Contentions
by Akatsuki Child
Summary: Being in love with Apollo is…complicated. Thalia loves it, but she also hates it. As a new threat arrives, will she be able to handle all the stress and remain with Apollo? Or will she have to refuse his offer? Sequel to Ten Days.
1. Prologue

**Sequel! Yay! And so soon! Double yay! ****Well, this is just the prologue to get you hooked. I hope you like it! And thus, we begin Contentions.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO!**

**Prologue**

_"Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in."_

_ -Napoleon Bonaparte_

Thalia was breathing hard. There were cuts and gashes all over her body and she ached physically and mentally. She was tired of fighting. She just wanted to collapse in Apollo's arms and sleep forever. But she couldn't give up, not after everything they had been through. Not after all the sacrifices that people had made for her.

She called on the remnants of her inner strength to summon a bolt of lightning to strike down on the pack of monsters that were started to swarm her. She felt the electrical charge on her skin and the particles around her rearrange. Suddenly there was a deafening boom, a flash of bright light, and a wave of heat. She opened her eyes to see charred grass and the golden dust of monster disintegration around her. She gratefully took in the mini rest, letting her guard down to try and get oxygen back into her lungs.

It was a mistake.

"Thalia!" She heard Apollo's warning yell as he ran towards her. "Duck!"

But even though she heard it, she was a bit slow—too tired—and registered his warning too late. Just as she turned around, there was a loud smack as something—she suspected it had been a monster's arm—hit her across the shoulder, just barely missing her head and almost knocking her out. She flew ten feet away, rolling on the trample grass.

Right towards the cliff side.

The breath had been knocked out of her, but it had also awakened her senses. It was a good thing, too, otherwise she would've dropped down the few hundred feet to the crashing waves and jagged rocks below. An ugly death. But even as her legs flew over the side, threatening to bring her torso along with it, she grasped onto the edge of the cliff with all her might.

She felt her arms screaming as she held on with all her might. Why oh why hadn't they made them do pull-ups at Camp? The blood was starting to leave her arms as she dangled and tried to get a foothold. She found one and tried pushing herself off of it to climb onto solid ground, but it broke away beneath her feet. Her stomach gave a lurch as she slipped and scraped her front against the cliff. Her hands gripped the edge tighter. She could already tell they were starting to slip.

"Thalia!" Apollo yelled. He tried to run after her, but he was swarmed with more monsters. They were easily defeated, but there were _so many_.

Thalia couldn't believe this. This was how she was going to die. After everything she'd been through, all the tears and pain and fighting…she was going to impale herself on a rock and get washed away with the tide. Great, just great.

Despite herself, she felt tears prick her eyes. Why was life so _unfair?_ Why couldn't the monsters, hell, even the _gods_ leave her and all the demi gods alone? She was so tired of it! She just wanted a normal life. She wanted to be able to do something with her friends and not have to worry about getting attacked.

At the same time, she realized she was whining. She also realized that, if she had a chance to do it all over again…she wouldn't change a thing.

She heard Apollo calling her name and her heart skipped a beat. See, if she hadn't gone through everything she had, she wouldn't be his right now. She wouldn't be in love with most incredible man. If she hadn't been a demi god, she wouldn't even _know _him.

And that right there seemed to shove things into place, because without Apollo, without her friends, without Camp…she didn't have a life at all.

She felt one of her hands slip from the cliff edge. She gave a small yelp as it dangled near her side for a moment. She scrambled to get a grip on the cliff, but her hands kept slipping.

_This can't be it,_ she thought. _Not yet._

But as her fingers continued to lose grip, all of her hope seemed lost.

* * *

**A glimpse of what's to come...hmmm...be prepared! The drama starts right away! And, of course, we'll get some Thalia and Apollo conflicts arising!**

**Thanks for reading and review please!**

**-Akatsuki Child**


	2. Not That Easy

**Wow. I did not think I would have the first chapter done already. I'm still working on the whole plot for this story, but I have the first eight chapters planned out, and that's barely half the story. Anyways, enjoy! The action starts right away, so be prepared... :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO! (Oh how I wish...)**

* * *

Not That Easy

"_Marry me."_

_Silence._

_She sucked in a sharp breath. _

"Thalia, are you even listening to me?"

Thalia snapped out of her reverie. She took in her surroundings again—soft sand beneath her feet, the harsh glare from the lake before her, the boiling sun beating down on her. She really needed to stop zoning out. She had been thinking about Apollo's proposal…again. It was all she thought about now.

"Er…yeah," she replied lamely. Annabeth raised an accusatory brow at her. "Um…no. I wasn't."

Annabeth sighed and continued pushing the canoe through the sand. She knew what her best friend was thinking about. It was pretty obvious that she was thinking about Apollo. Every time her eyes would glaze over and she would be sucked into a time a week ago when the god had popped the question.

Thalia watched as Annabeth just shook her head and sighed, not saying anything on the matter. They both knew that no matter how normal they tried acting, no matter how much they talked about school in the fall, Thalia would have the attention span of a poodle. Instead, Annabeth decided to just stay quiet because it wasn't worth it. They were in water activities right now, and they were going to go canoe around a bit. However, Thalia was having a hard time concentrating. Her mind kept wandering to the day on the dock a week ago.

When Apollo had popped the question, she felt like the breath had been knocked out of her. She couldn't breathe at first. She was so surprised by the question, she had just stuttered that she needed to think about it. It wasn't very lady-like of her, but what was she supposed to say? It was so unexpected…they had only been dating for six months! Yes, she was madly in love with him, maybe more than was safe considering his reputation for fooling around, but that didn't mean she was ready to marry him. She wasn't quite sure she was ready to make that big of a commitment, and despite her deep lover for him, she barely knew the sun god.

"Have you come to a conclusion yet?" Annabeth asked in reference to her dilemma. The two waded out into the water and quickly hopped into the canoe. They firmly grasped their paddles and started heading out onto the sparkling lake.

Thalia yawned as she paddled absently, letting herself go into auto-pilot. She was literally losing sleep over this situation. She thought that, with Apollo gone to the Summer Solstice that day, things might have been a bit easier to sort out without his added pressure, but she was wrong. She was so lost on what to do, how _could_ she come to a conclusion? "No…" she replied with another yawn. "I just…I'm not sure it's the best thing to do right now."

"What do you mean? What's holding you back?"

Annabeth knew that, even though Thalia appeared to be fifteen or sixteen, she was really in her early twenties. So, all things considering, she was pretty young to be getting married, but Annabeth knew her friend, and she knew that age was the last thing Thalia was worried about here. Besides, demi gods couldn't live their life expecting to be alive tomorrow (so to speak). They had to be prepared for a fight. No, Thalia's hesitation it went deeper than that. Annabeth just needed to know how deep that was.

Thalia chewed on her lip. Slowly, she said, "How can I trust him fully, Annabeth? How can I make sure that we'll stay…married?" She had choked on the word. To her, being married to Apollo was a hard concept to grasp, mainly because he was so godly—literally. She paled in comparison to him. She wasn't girly like Silena, and she wasn't as beautiful as Annabeth…She was petite, thin, tom-boyish, and she had her street smarts and common sense. As far as she was concerned, that's all she needed, but what if it wasn't enough for Apollo? "How can I know that he won't run away and sire another kid with another woman, some one better than little old me? Someone prettier?" How could she guarantee that Apollo's days of messing around were really over? He had promised to make an effort, but would that promise be enough?

Thalia had tried fusing some humor into her tone, to lighten the mood and not make such a big deal out of it, but it only served to make Annabeth angrier. How could she just…joke about something like that? Did she not see herself clearly enough?

"Thalia, stop it." Annabeth turned and glared at her friend, who was staring back at her in shock from her sudden outburst. "Stop saying stuff like that, because it's not true. If you realized how Apollo looks at you…" She shook her head and turned around, continuing to paddle. "He looks at you like you're the most beautiful woman to ever walk the Earth. He treats you like you're fine China…If you think he'd leave you, you must be crazy."

Thalia let that sink in. Even if all of that was true, Thalia still wasn't sure she was ready for marriage. It was not only the question of his commitment, but hers as well. She loved Apollo. So much. She couldn't imagine living her life with someone else. But she wasn't ready to make things finalized like that. Because if he ever broke her heart, if he ever left after they got married…Marriage meant you were ready to fully commit to someone and leave your single days behind. If he left her...

She just sighed and chased away that thought quickly before her imagination could turn on her. She changed the subject by saying, "We should turn around and—"

Suddenly, something burst from the water ten feet into the air, cutting Thalia off and spraying gallons of water on them. They were completely soaked from head to toe, but they barely noticed. They were more concerned on what the hell was going on.

"What the—"

Annabeth was silenced as another thing—it appeared to be a slimy tentacle of some sort—burst out from the other side of the canoe, drenching them again. Before either of them could react, the two massive tentacles slammed down on the canoe, just missing the two half-bloods. It completely shattered the canoe and Annabeth and Thalia sunk like a rock into the lake. Quickly, Thalia kicked her legs and pushed her arms through the water, trying to get to the surface again. When she broke through, she found Annabeth wading through the water, staring down and trying to see what had attacked them.

"We have to get to shore!" Annabeth exclaimed, already starting to front stroke towards Camp. Thalia followed her example, but right as she was about to kick off, that same slimy tentacle wrapped around her leg in a firm grasp. Thalia gave a surprised yelp as she was quickly pulled under the water again. The air rushed out of her lungs from her scream. She quickly shut her mouth, trying to preserve what air she had left. Things were already starting to get fuzzy.

She kicked and punched at the thing, but it was too huge to notice her feeble attempts. It kept just dragging her down farther into the depths. She struggled to look through the blurriness of the water, but what she saw made her blood run cold. Below her was a…crap/squid-like thing with at least ten tentacles. Its eyes were big and bloodshot and it had a mouth full of sharp, jagged teeth.

She started struggling again. This thing was seriously ugly…and seriously creepy. No doubt it was going to kill her. And the worst part? She was already starting to get tunnel vision…just a few more minutes and everything…would be black…

Suddenly, there was a body next to her. She weakly looked over and saw…Percy?

He had Riptide out, its faint glow casting an eerie shadow against the monster, and he slashed at the creature, creating a gigantic gash and nearly cutting off the tentacle. The monster wailed a loud, screeching sound and immediately released Thalia, receding even farther into the depths of the lake as bluish-black blood sprouted from the monster's wound and started spreading in the ocean. Percy grabbed Thalia's arm and quickly shot them to the surface.

When they broke through, Thalia immediately breathed in the glorious air. She coughed and sputtered up some water as Percy held onto her. She was sucking in air like she had just run a marathon. Percy willed the waves to take them back to shore.

"What the hell was that?" Percy asked, his brow furrowed and his nerves still tense.

Thalia shook her head, which felt like it weighed fifteen pounds. "Your guess is as good as mine."

He looked troubled. "Are you okay?"

She gave him a sarcastic look. "I almost drowned and now I'm coughing up my lungs. I'm peachy."

He rolled his eyes at her ever present sarcasm and when they arrived on the shore, they found Annabeth on her hands and knees while she sucked in deep breaths.

"Oh, Thalia!" Annabeth exclaimed, hugging her friend. "You're okay!"

Thalia hugged her back and the two stood up. As Annabeth was fretted over by Percy, Thalia turned and stared out at the water. Despite the terror that had just happened, the lake looked calm and picturesque. It looked serene and inviting. But within the depths now reigned a…

What _was_ that thing? She had never seen that kind of creature before. She'd never heard of anything like it. It was like a cross between a squid and a crab, but something that massive would have no way of surviving in a lake. Besides the question of what it was, another good question was how did it get there? Monsters couldn't get into Camp unless summoned. But for someone to summon something that huge and deadly…

Other campers were now gathered at the beach, whispering among themselves as they stared in awe at the carnage. They looked at Thalia, Annabeth, and Percy with wide eyes, shock clearly written across their faces.

"_Did you see that?"_

"_They were nearly taken under!"_

"_By what though?"_

"_Good thing Percy was there…"_

There was a clopping sound like hooves and the three looked up to see Chiron, the old and wise Camp activities director trotting towards them in his Centaur form. When he arrived at the beach, his eyes were troubled and his face looked sober.

"My children," he exclaimed when he got on the beach. "Are you all right?" Annabeth and Thalia nodded, and then he asked, "What on Earth happened?"

They told in great detail what had happened, Thalia and Percy taking over from when she was dragged under by the monster. By the time they were finished with their tale, Chiron's eyes were wide with shock and terror. He looked like a statue on the beach, his expression one of horror and disbelief.

"Chiron," Percy spoke, "do you know what we're dealing with? Do you know what that thing was?"

Chiron shook his head absently. His mind was reeling and he appeared to be in a different time. "I do not," he mumbled. "I've never heard of anything like this. It's possible we could be facing a new enemy."

"The thing is…" Annabeth spoke up, her eyes calculating as she eyed the daughter of Zeus. "It was going after Thalia."

Thalia's blood ran cold. "W-what do you mean?" she stuttered. She knew Annabeth was usually right, but for once she hoped that her friend was wrong. She did not need another enemy, not after the fight with Meliboea just six months ago.

"After it capsized our canoe, it dragged only you under. I was still in range to get caught, but it only went after you."

Thalia's shoulders slumped. That was true. Why _did_ it only go after her? It didn't make sense if it was just going out to kill. Monsters weren't necessarily smart, so someone must have given it orders. The monster was someone's pet, doing their dirty work. Still, Thalia had to hope that it was all just coincidence, that maybe someone would pop by, say "Sorry, wrong target," and move along and she could forget this whole matter.

But of course, that would be too easy.

* * *

**Woah! A new enemy! And what's the squid thing? Next chapter, the plot thickens!**

**Thanks for reading and review please! Reviews make me happy, which put me in a writing mood! :D**

**-Akatsuki Child**


	3. Hidden Motives?

**Four days later...chapter two! There are some semi-important notes at the end. Also, I would like to dedicate this chapter to Princesss Andromeda and ApollosFavoriteDaughter3927, who really inspired me to write this chapter this soon. Also, to TheOriginalCreeper, who made me laugh with their review. You'll see why in one of my end notes. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO!**

**Hidden Motives?**

Apollo sighed heavily from his glorious, comfortable throne. He was currently in the throne room on Mount Olympus. It was the Summer Solstice, and as per tradition, there was a meeting between the twelve Olympian gods. The sun god was bored out of his mind. Nothing interesting happened at these meetings. All they did was status reports and talk about meaningless stuff. And with things calmed down from the Titan war about a year and a half ago, everyone was boring again. There was no pizzazz to the meeting, no life-or-death threats to talk about. No, it was about Artemis gaining more Hunters, or Hermes reporting of an address change for someone. He personally never had anything to report, mainly because his biggest duty was rise and set the sun. About the only thing he could report would be the sun about to explode, but if that ever happened he would probably let it so they would have _something_ to talk about.

But alas, the sun wasn't going to explode for another trillion years, give or take a few hundred thousand years. So, during these meetings, he slumped in his throne, designed for comfort with cushioned seats and a pull-out footstool. There was a built in stereo, especially designed and put in for him by Hephaestus. Apollo would listen to Zeus and his introductory speech and then they would get to business, _blah, blah, blah._ During this time, he would plug in his headphones, slip them onto his ears, and crank up his favorites: the Beatles, ACDC…the classics. The people who defined music—most of them being his children.

Right now, Apollo was thinking about Thalia as the Offspring sang _Keep 'Em Separated_ from his iPod. His foot tapped along absently with the beat as he looked around at the other gods who were talking amongst themselves about events that had happened in the six months since the Winter Solstice. The only reason he was still there was because it was his duty. He had an obligation to be there.

But if he hadn't, he would be at Camp with Thalia. He would be trying to convince her to marry him.

When he had proposed to her, it had been spontaneous. But when they had been sitting on that dock, with her pressed up against him…he knew that she was the one. He loved her so much, and he found it strange—yet intriguing—that he had fallen for someone so fast. He wanted to make sure that he was her only lover, and quite frankly, he wanted to be hers and hers alone. Yes, he was known for fooling around, but he wanted to change that.

He had seen the look on her face after his proposal. Fear was written clearly across her face, under all that shock. As previous stated, he knew it was really soon to be talking about marriage, but he was so sure that it was right. He wasn't all too surprised that she wasn't ready, that she had said she needed to think. But that didn't mean that it didn't hurt a bit. Were her feelings for him changing already? Did she not want to be with him forever?

Apollo sighed again, and finally Zeus announced that the meeting was over. _Finally!_ Apollo thought as he took off his headphones and stepped down from his thrown. He shrunk back down to human size along with the other gods. Immediately, he was bombarded by his twin.

"Apollo!" Artemis said harshly, storming up to him. She started poking him in the shoulder hard, prodding him with her slim fingers.

"Ow!" he exclaimed, pushing her away. "What the hell is your problem now?"

She grabbed the collar of his polo—the pink one that she absolutely _loathed—_and stood on her tip-toes to look him in the eye. "What are you still doing here?" she all but shouted at him.

He narrowed his eyes and picked her fingers off his shirt and pushed her shoulders down away from him. "What are you _talking _about?"

Artemis clenched her teeth. "The Camp was attacked today. Thalia was involved. She almost got drowned—"

Apollo's blood ran cold. His eyes widened. Camp? Attacked?

Without another word to his sister, he disappeared, destination: Camp Half-Blood.

* * *

When he arrived, he saw groups of kids chatting amongst themselves, picking up on their words.

"…_it popped up out of nowhere!"_

"_What do you think it is?"_

"_Thalia's lucky to be alive…"_

He stormed up to the Big House and onto the porch, ignoring Dionysus, who rolled his eyes. He burst into the room and found Chiron in his wheelchair and Percy sitting at the table with Annabeth and Thalia. His eyes immediately landed on her. She was still soaked and her face looked pale.

They looked up in surprise at the sun god's sudden outburst.

"Apollo…" Thalia spoke. She leaped up and hugged him tight. She realized that she had probably soaked his shirt, so she stepped back, but Apollo still kept his arms around her. "What're you doing here?" she asked. "I thought you were at the meeting."

"It's over with," he replied quickly. "What _happened?"_

Thalia bit her lip and glanced over at Annabeth and Percy, who barely nodded. Thalia turned back and looked up into Apollo's green eyes. They were full of worry and confusion. He was staring back into her eyes deeply, like he was seeing her soul. She shivered as her heart skipped a beat. She loved that he could do that to her.

She took a deep breath and then explained to him everything that had happened, from the tentacles attacking their canoe to her almost drowning. With each passing moment, as she got farther into her story, his arms around her tightened. They were holding her so tight, she was becoming uncomfortable. His eyes had slowly turned from worried, to horrified, to suspicious. Now, they were angry, and there was still some confusion and apprehension lingering in his eyes.

Thalia grabbed his arms and pulled back slightly, relieved to be out of his rigid stance. He hadn't said a word the whole time, and he still wasn't saying anything. He stood before them, tense and thoughtful. Thalia could practically see the wheels turning.

"Apollo?" Thalia spoke softly. "Are you okay?"

The person in question didn't say anything. He glanced up sharply and caught Chiron's gaze, who was staring intently at him. Percy blinked at the shared look between the ancient entities. He glanced at Annabeth, who was staring at the two as well. She locked eyes with Percy, gray storms meeting sea green orbs.

_They know something._

Apollo stared into Chiron's ancient, knowing eyes. They seemed to have a silent conversation right there.

_It can't be…_

_But maybe it is…?_

_How is it possible? _

_He must have escaped._

_But how?_

Apollo blinked and stared down at his bright, colorful shoes. They were the exact ones he had gotten in Manhattan when he was with Thalia. His sister, of course, hated them like she hated his pink polo. She pretty much hated anything that wasn't silver, purple, or black, but she was freaky like that. But it didn't matter. They were funky, like him, and they held meaning. They, along with the Aviators, were a friendly reminder of his time with Thalia six months ago. However, whenever he caught sight of the scar on Thalia's leg, he was thrust back to their fighting, all the pain they had gone through.

But what was probably the most painful symbol—or lack thereof—was the absence of the soft glow around Thalia. Being a Hunter of Artemis gave you immortality, but with immortality came a soft glow about you. It was like that with every immortal. It was like a golden rule in the handbook: _you must glow so people know you're immortal._

But because of him, that was gone. Because of him, he had ruined her career as a Hunter for his sister. Every day he felt guilty knowing that he had taken away his sister's second best lieutenant. He felt guilty because he had made Thalia break her pledge. She had willingly taken it, and he had forced her to give it up.

Apollo swallowed hard from his sudden swell of thoughts and emotions. He pushed them out of his head and smiled softly at Thalia. "I'm just glad you guys are okay."

He hugged her tight and nodded to Percy and Annabeth over her shoulder. Percy smiled back and pulled Annabeth close. Apollo sighed and buried his face in her shoulder, taking in her familiar scent. She smelled like pine cones—an odd smell for a girl—but it was fitting. And he loved it. It always calmed him down.

And right now, as he stared holes into the floor, he needed all the comforting he could get.

Meanwhile, Dionysus, the eaves-dropping bastard, sat rigid at his card table on the Big House's porch. He was dressed in his usual attire: leopard printed shirt, jogging pants, and Reeboks. His cheeks were forever tinted pink, but his face held a frown. His eyebrows were furrowed. He was staring out at the lake, his game of Solitaire momentarily forgotten.

* * *

Later that night, as the sun was setting over the deceptively calm harbor, Apollo and Thalia could be found in Cabin One, Zeus' cabin. It was fitting, really, seeing as they were both children of Zeus. Anyways, they could be found here, but the door could be found locked, and the curtains pulled to block out the last rays of the sun (and any unwanted peeping toms).

Thalia had her hands tangled in Apollo's blonde hair. He was leaning over her lithe form, trapping her between himself and the wooden wall. He kissed her deeply as his hand moved to the nape of her neck and tilted her head. His other hand ran down her side to her hip, slipping under her shirt to the small of her back.

Thalia sighed contentedly, pulling herself closer to Apollo. This would be a perk to marrying him: she could always have make-out sessions. Now, she wasn't real experienced in the whole kissing department. She hadn't been around or anything like that. In fact, Apollo had been her first. But she was willing to bet that Apollo was the best kisser in the world—next to Aphrodite, who was, like, the expert at all this stuff.

But _dear gods_…his kisses…they did wonders to her body. Her whole body tingled, every sensation magnified times a million. Her senses heightened and she was aware of everything around her—the wall behind her back, his body leaning on hers, his hands roaming her form…Lust pooled in her belly, her knees became weak and wobbly, and her toes would curl. Instincts took over whenever he kissed her, and things quickly became out of control.

And then someone would break off and remind the other about the boundaries. They couldn't take things this fast, he wasn't going to mess up this time around, they weren't ready…All of these things were remembered, and then the static around them would simmer down to a mere zap rather than the full-blown strike of electricity.

This time, she was the one to calm things down. He remained in front of her though (to which she was silently thankful) and he started placing butterfly kisses down her neck, nipping at her collar bone. She bit the inside of her cheek and dug her nails into his back.

"So," she started hoarsely, swallowing dryly. "How was…the meeting?"

"Mm," which was Apollo for 'not important.'

"Oh." Thalia felt her spine tingle as he wrapped his arms around her and pressed into her even more, his body flush against hers. He continued to kiss her jaw and down her neck. She trembled beneath him, her lips quivering as she asked, "So, do you know something about that thing in the lake?"

Suddenly, Apollo froze, his lips resting against the sensitive skin below her ear. A thousand thoughts raced through his head at once. He stood up, giving her a bit of breathing room, and stared into her electric blue eyes. They were slightly hazy from their make-out, but she was still able to pull off a penetrating gaze, daring him to lie.

Well, he dared to.

Putting on a look of innocence, he said, "I don't. I have no idea what that thing could be."

His eyes were wide and he was trying to pour every ounce of innocence he could find into his eyes. Thalia stared at him for a minute. His palms started to feel damp, but then, she sighed and looked away, slipping out from under him. She went and sat on the bed, chewing on her thumbnail as she started thinking through this problem again.

Apollo remained facing the wall. He clenched his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose. He _hated_ lying to Thalia. He felt so low, like he had just committed a huge crime. And, in a way, he had. He had lied to his love, his possible fiancée. How could he do it? How had he been able to not break apart and admit that he had suspicions? _Why_ didn't he tell her?

_Because I have to protect her._

The reason was simple, thoughtful, but it took a hell of a lot of work to pull through with it. If he was right, then the person behind all of this was dangerous, ten times more dangerous than Meliboea. And if this guy was going after Thalia—possibly to get to him—then he was going to do whatever he could to keep Thalia out of the equation. He had failed six months ago to do that, but he knew better. He could make it work this time.

But then why did he feel so sick?

He eventually turned around and slowly walked over to sit on the bed across from Thalia. He sat stiffly, but Thalia barely noticed. She was so engrossed in her thinking.

_It doesn't make sense…_she thought. Something wasn't adding up. There was a missing piece of information, something she felt like she should know. She had seen that look between Chiron and Apollo today. There was no way she _couldn't_ notice it. But what had it meant? Did Apollo really not know anything, or was he lying? But, if he did know, why would he lie to her? He wouldn't keep valuable information from her, right?

So then what was missing?

She never considered the fact that Apollo had hidden motives.

"Have you come to a decision?" Apollo asked softly, looking at her from under his lashes. He watched as her face cleared into her poker face, the one that showed no feelings. Her body tensed and she stared down at her hands in her lap. They absently played with fraying around a hole in her jeans, her eyebrow quirked up.

"…No. I haven't." She looked up and saw Apollo's fallen expression. She looked away, swallowing hard. She mumbled, "I just…need more time."

Call him whatever you'd like, but Apollo was a bit ticked off by this. He had expected an answer by now. He knew he couldn't push Thalia. This big of a proposition was a little soon, even for him. And, he had to remember that this was her first time with _love,_ love. Yes, she loved her friends here at Camp and from the Hunters, but she didn't know what love was like with the opposite sex. Maybe…she could have experienced it from Luke, but that boy had chosen a different path. Now, it was more of a brotherly love, like it was with Percy. Apollo knew she needed to think, but dammit, how much time did she need?

"I…understand," he said with difficulty.

Thalia didn't say anything. She just continued to trace unseen patterns on her bed spread. This subject was difficult for her. She could sense his impatience, but she just couldn't commit to him unless she was one hundred and ten percent sure. There was still the nagging doubt in the back of her mind, reminding her that things could end just as quickly as they began.

She wanted to say yes…but she couldn't. The three letter word always got caught in the back of her throat. She knew she couldn't give her answer yet.

Apollo sighed—albeit angrily—and stood up, his shoulders tense. "I have to go. Business to take care of on Olympus."

That wasn't true—another lie—but he needed time alone, because every time she avoided his question…it seemed like she was rejecting him.

He leaned down and gave her a kiss on her forehead. She watched as he suddenly disappeared like he had evaporated into thin air.

Thalia sighed. It was hard to watch him leave. It was so obvious to her that he was upset with her answer. But what else could she say? She gave an angry huff and fell back against the pillows.

Being in love with Apollo was…complicated.

* * *

Apollo went to his home on Olympus. It was hardly a home—more like a mansion, or a hotel. He had just changed into his most comfortable PJs and had sat down on his black leather sofa when there was a knock on the door.

With Thalia still heavy on his mind, it took him a few seconds to realize it was Artemis at his door.

He blinked down at his sister—since when was she so short?—and asked, "Uh…can I help you?"

She, too, was dressed in her PJs, and she had taken on the appearance of a twenty-year old again. That was one of the things that he never really understood about her: why she changed her appearance all the time.

"I just wanted to see…how Thalia was doing…?"

Apollo's attitude towards her softened. She loved Thalia, but now that Thalia wasn't part of the Hunters, Artemis couldn't see her as often. Another reason why he felt guilty.

"She's doing alright." He explained about the monster that attacked, and she gave him a sharp glance.

"It's not…" she trailed off.

Apollo shook his head. "I hope not, but if it is, I'm going to do everything in my power to keep him away from her."

Artemis looked worried, but she said, "I trust you, Apollo."

They fell into a thoughtful silence. She could tell by his expression that Thalia hadn't come to a decision quite yet.

"Apollo…you have to give her time. You can't rush her."

He swallowed and stared down at the cheesy 'welcome!' mat beneath her feet.

"I know it must be frustrating, but just be patient. She'll come around."

She gave him a smile and a reassuring pat on the shoulder (they weren't too big on hugging each other). He rolled his eyes. "Easy for you to say."

She just chuckled. "Why do you think I've sworn from men?"

"Because we're pigs?"

She rolled her eyes. "That too."

Apollo closed the door behind him. He wanted to believe that her words would somehow soothe him, that his mind would come to rest and he could get some sleep.

But that was a lot of hoping and wishing.

* * *

**Sooo...you liked it? Yes? No? Well, REVIEW please! Now for my notes...**

**Note 1: If you've read my story When An Author Gets Bored, this applies to you. See, for the next part, I need an author who will appear in my story. If you would like to, review or PM me and I'll randomly pick out an author. **

**Note 2: This is where TheOriginalCreeper comes into play...this person wrote a haiku of what Apollo might say if he made a haiku about Thalia being attacked. **

_Crazy sea serpent,_

_Thalia was about to drown,_

_It was not awesome._

**It was pretty amazing and it made me laugh. I had to fix the middle line so it was seven syllables, but that's the gist of it. **

**Eh...I think that's it. Thanks for reading and review! **

**-Akatsuki Child**


	4. The Monster

**Woot! Fast update! This was a long chapter, and kind of emotional at one point. Anyways, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO!**

**The Monster **

"Hey Connor, I dare you to go on the dock."

It was one-thirty in the morning, and who else would be wandering around but the Stoll brothers? Following in their dad's footsteps, the two brothers were as mischievous and clever as the next person, so it wasn't surprising to know that they were out and about so late at night. But no one thought they would be stupid enough to mess around with something as serious as the sea-monster in the harbor. Then again, they were always surprising everyone.

Connor looked at his brother—who was commonly mistaken as his twin—with a quirked brow. His mouth was stretched into a grin. "Alright. I double dare you to come with me."

Travis mildly thought that the only reason his brother double dared him was because he was afraid to go out by himself, but Travis pushed the thought away. There was no way his brother was that chicken. Travis grinned back at Connor. "Fine. I'll come."

The two look-a-likes sauntered down to the beach, pointedly ignoring the _Beach is Closed! No Water Activities!_ sign. Travis felt a slight shiver of fear, but he just shook it off and continued into the cool sand. The stars glinted off the water, creating a sparkly effect. The sound of waves hitting the beach and the dock soothed down their nerves a bit as they clambered onto the wooden dock.

Taking a deep breath, Connor was the first to step onto the dock. With legs slightly shaky, they made their journey to the end of the dock. Once there, the two stopped. Their hearts were beating frantically and their nerves were frayed. Travis swallowed hard, the thick, deadly silence around them suffocating him.

He let out a shaky laugh as the waves crashed against the dock. He looked at Connor who held wide eyes.

"Great," Connor said shakily. "We got here."

"Let's go," Travis cut in.

Connor nodded gratefully and the two swiftly turned around and stared brusquely making their way up the dock. However, they only got two steps when suddenly there was a loud, deafening crack. They froze as the dock shuddered beneath their feet. The brothers looked at each other, eyes wide. They slowly turned around and saw the lake had gone completely still.

For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then, like a bullet, a huge tentacle pierced through the water, shooting approximately ten feet into the air. Travis and Connor yelped and fell back as the tentacle loomed over head. Suddenly, it fell down towards the dock, and with a thundering crash, it smacked onto the dock.

Wood and splinters flew up in every direction, showering the Stoll brothers. They watched wide-eyed as more tentacles shot up and started tearing apart the dock like it was made of butter. The brothers, who were still on the dock, could feel the wood beneath them start to shift and it started pointing downwards.

Connor scrambled up to his feet, grabbing Travis' arm and yanking him up as well. The two leapt across the dock, jumping over holes and splints in the wooden platform. Unexpectedly, the wood beneath Connor's feet groaned and cracked and he promptly tripped and fell to the damp wood. Travis nearly ran over him, but at the last second jumped ahead. He reached back and grabbed Connor's hand, but what he saw made him froze.

Behind them the monster attacking them had six of its tentacles squirming up the shore like they were snakes. They squished and splashed in the water and up the remains of the dock, coming towards the brothers.

Travis felt fear and panic rip through him. Acting on adrenaline, he yanked Connor up and dragged him the rest of the way, running faster than he ever had. When they reached the beach, they collapsed onto the cool sand, breathing hard with terror still fresh on their minds. They watched, paralyzed, as the monster's tentacles ripped apart the rest of the dock, dragging it down to the depths.

After a while, the thing disappeared once again beneath the lake. The waves crashed onto the beach a bit harder than before. Pieces of wood floated on the surface, eventually drifting to the shore. Connor and Travis sat there, slightly amazed and just plain scared.

What the hell was down there?

The lake, once again, took on its innocent appearance. That's when the panic hit Travis, and he realized that this thing was no joking matter.

"We have to tell Chiron," Connor squeaked, standing up on jelly-knees.

Travis nodded. "Yeah…"

"Tomorrow."

Travis swallowed. He just nodded faintly. As Connor sighed and started making his way back to the Hermes cabin, Travis could only stand and stare with wide eyes at the harbor. For once in his life, Travis wasn't in the mood for any jokes.

* * *

True enough, the next morning, Chiron, the Stoll brothers, Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, and even Apollo were found at the beach. They were staring at the dock—what little remained—in astonishment. They ignored the whispering behind them from the other campers. Apparently, before the brothers had come to Chiron, they had told everyone about their late night adventures and how they had barely escaped with their lives. That part was true, but they made it sound like they were Hercules and Achilles or something.

Despite their "heroic" tale, everyone was now frantic and scared. No one would dare to even step on the beach, afraid that if they did the monster would attack them and kill them.

Chiron stood in his Centaur form. His brows were furrowed in deep thought as his hand scratched his chin through his beard. This was becoming a huge problem now. They needed to figure out what it was down there without endangering anyone. They needed to get rid of this monster before it finally took someone's life.

He glanced over at Apollo, who was also in deep thought. It seemed like he and Apollo shared the same thought of who was behind all of this. If it really was him, then they were in trouble. It would make sense that he would come for Apollo after what the sun god had done to him. But if that were true, why was he attacking Camp? The only ties Apollo had to the camp were the Oracle and…

Thalia.

It had gone after Thalia. That's what Annabeth had said. He trusted Annabeth and her logic completely. It could be possible that the man behind all of this was using Thalia to get to Apollo, and if he ever got a hold of her, he wouldn't spare her life.

Chiron closed his eyes. This couldn't be happening.

"Well," he finally spoke. He turned towards Travis and Connor. They flinched under his sharp gaze. "You two were not only disobeying Camp orders, but you were out past curfew. I believe that will be dish duty for three months." The two groaned at this. Chiron spoke up again. "Just be thankful you two made it out alive and intact." He turned towards the lake. "That thing…it could easily kill anyone."

The Stoll's exchanged a look. They swallowed and Chiron dismissed them. Gratefully, they turned away from the beach and headed back through Camp.

Chiron turned to the others. He sighed. "I have no idea what to do. This monster…we don't even know what it is." He glanced up at Apollo sharply, but Apollo just shook his head. He had no idea either.

Apollo wanted to go down into the lake and figure it out, but that would be impossible. For one thing, Poseidon was a little peeved at his nephew. Why? Well, Apollo may or may not have stolen a few things from his palace a while back, but it wasn't anything big or extremely valuable. In fact, it had only been a few pieces of—extremely comfortable—furniture. Maybe that's why he was mad at him, because they were pretty much the best couches ever.

Anyways, the point is that if Apollo went down in the water, Poseidon would not be kind to him. Sure, he couldn't drown or anything like that, but Poseidon could certainly pull him down into the depths under tons of crushing water and hold him down there. And besides, he couldn't interfere too much with demi-gods and their quests.

"Chiron," Percy spoke up. "Let me go down there and look."

Silence encased them. Annabeth glared harshly at him. "No," she said forcefully.

Percy ignored her, staring at Chiron, who shook his head. "It's too dangerous."

"Please," Percy continued, practically begging. "I'm the son of Poseidon. My dad will help protect me. Face it; I'm the best option to go take a look at this thing. I'll be the most agile in the water, and I can use it to my advantage if something happens."

Annabeth gaped at him. She looked at Chiron and saw the look in his eyes, realizing that Percy had got him. She huffed. "No!" she exclaimed. "No way are you going down there! You'll get killed!"

Percy looked hurt. "Thanks for the confidence, Annabeth."

She glared at him. "You know what I mean."

Thalia, who had been oddly quiet, spoke up. "He's right, Annabeth."

They both looked at her in shock. Annabeth gaped at her best friend. "Thalia…what are you talking about?"

Thalia took a deep breath. Because Percy was involved, Annabeth's judgment was becoming clouded. Thalia knew that Annabeth would approve of this if it wasn't him, and she needed to get her to see that. "He needs to go down. He's our only hope of finding out what this monster is."

Annabeth looked incredulous. "How can you just agree to this? It's too dangerous!"

"I don't like it either, Annabeth," Thalia said harshly, matching Annabeth's glare. "I'd rather not have him go at all, but if we're going to kill this thing and make Camp safe again, we have to figure out what we're dealing with."

Annabeth stared coldly at her best friend. Thalia stared back unflinchingly.

"Annabeth," Percy spoke quietly, grabbing her shoulders. "I'll be fine. I have to do this."

Percy glanced up at Apollo, making sure that this was the right thing to do. Apollo nodded slowly, almost reluctantly. Percy swallowed and his expression became determined. He turned back to Annabeth.

"I'll be back in no time."He gave her a reassuring smile, but she wouldn't look into his eyes. He sighed low and to himself before giving her a peck on the lips. He pulled back and gave Thalia a look, silently asking her to talk to Annabeth. She nodded and they watched as Percy walked into the water, his black hair disappearing beneath the surface.

Chiron sighed and mumbled, "Gods be with him." He trotted off back to the Big House, knowing that it will be a while.

Thalia swallowed away the tiny bit of guilt she felt. She didn't want Percy going down there. She didn't want to turn against Annabeth, but the fact of the matter was that he could figure this out and they could end it before something truly horrifying happened, before the situation became fatal.

"Come on, Annabeth," Thalia mumbled, trying to pull her friend along. "Let's go get some lunch."

However, Annabeth wouldn't budge. She wasn't going anywhere. "I'm staying here," she replied harshly. And with that, she promptly plopped down on the sand, far enough away from the lake so nothing could reach up and get her.

Thalia sighed and looked up at Apollo, who held a sorry expression. Thalia just shook her head and leaned into Apollo, getting a well-needed hug.

About an hour later, Percy still hadn't emerged back to land. Thalia and Apollo were sitting a ways away from Annabeth, keeping an eye on her while also waiting for Percy. Thalia leaned against Apollo and gave a heavy sigh. She was worried about Percy. A part of her hoped that he was finding out what the monster was, but the other part—the bigger part—just wanted him to come back up, with or without information.

She looked up at Apollo. He was staring out at the lake, his mind a thousand miles away. Their discussion—if you could even call it that—from last night played through her head. It had been jabbing at her brain all night and morning. She didn't mean to be so indecisive. That's just how she was. She didn't mean to hurt him by asking for more time.

She almost wished he hadn't asked her in the first place.

But that wasn't the only thing bugging her about last night. For some reason, her mind kept bringing her back to when she asked if he knew about the monster. He said he didn't know anything, and so Thalia believed him. But after sitting on it for a while, she started to become skeptical about his answer. He had been around for eons. He'd probably seen everything, witnessed miraculous events and shocking sights. You would think he would know about something like this. After all the things he had conquered, all the monsters he had fought, you'd think he would've come across something like this, or at least heard of it.

She was suspicious. But then, like a vicious cycle, her mind would question why he would lie to her. They trusted each other. She would hope that he would be able to confide to her about anything he knew. And besides, with Camp at risk—and right now Percy especially—why would he hold valuable information back? So then he had to have been telling the truth.

Apollo…yes, he had suspicions, and he could've told Thalia, Chiron, _someone._ So then why didn't he? Why did he let Percy go down there, risking his life?

He needed his fears to be confirmed. Like it had been for many millennia, the gods were just using demi-gods for their dirty work.

And he felt guilty as hell, but still, he didn't say a word.

"Apollo…" Thalia spoke. "Are you positive you don't recall _anything_ that sounded like this monster?"

He tensed and clenched his teeth. Now would be the opportune moment to confess. "Positive," he found himself saying. He mentally berated himself. He told himself it would only get worse. The longer the lie was there, the worse it was going to be when she found out.

He swallowed hard. "Actually, Thalia—"

Suddenly, there was a loud splash and a gasp. Thalia snapped her head towards the sound and found Percy yelling in pain, his head poking out of the water.

"Percy!" Annabeth yelled. She jumped to her feet and ran to the water's edge, staring after him helplessly. She was so frantic. She wanted to go out and grab him.

She got ankle deep in the water before Thalia yanked her back. Annabeth yelped as Percy was pulled underwater. It was deadly silent for a minute. Annabeth and Thalia scanned the water for any sign of him. Then, scaring the daylights out of them, he popped up five feet away from them on his hands and knees, gasping and crying in pain.

Apollo rushed forward into the water and grabbed his arm and wrapped it around his shoulder. He carefully, yet quickly, pulled him up to the shore where Percy collapsed on the sand, breathing hard and straining against an injury on him. Annabeth fell to her knees and grasped his face in her hands.

"Percy!" Annabeth exclaimed.

"What's happened?" Chiron asked, trotting down to them in Centaur form.

"His leg…" Apollo spoke, examining it. "It's broken."

Thalia stared at Percy's leg in horror. It was drenched in blood, which was gushing out of a large gash down his calf. White bone from his shin popped out of the skin. Thalia shuddered and looked away, trying to hold back the bile that threatened to come up.

Percy was still yelling in pain, though Annabeth was trying to calm him down. She was grasping his face and murmuring comforting things to him, though it was a failed attempt. She wasn't all that calm right now, so it was done in futile. Her voice was shaking and she was on the edge of hysteria.

"Hold his torso down," Apollo commanded, going into medic mode. "Thalia, hold his other leg down so he doesn't lash out." Thalia nodded and firmly held his leg down, which was already thrashing around. Apollo took a deep breath. "This is going to hurt, so be prepared."

Apollo licked his lips and gently grasped Percy's leg above and below the bone sticking out of his leg. Percy cried out just from the touch, going into a frenzy as more blood gushed from the large cut.

Apollo took another deep breath. "Okay, get ready…"

He mentally counted to three, and then pushed his hands against the bone.

Throughout the whole camp, Percy's scream of excruciating pain could be heard. Some campers, already knowing what was going on, just flinched and tried to continue their activities and work. The others who didn't have a clue fled from their activity to the beach. However, they were stopped by Mr. D, who was preventing anybody from getting to them. They still gathered around and tried to sneak a peek at what was going on. Those that saw the sight before them immediately paled, trying not to empty their stomachs.

Annabeth was shaking her head as tears leaked down her face. The scream had affected her the worst. Not only because she was so close to him her eardrums almost snapped, but because it _killed_ her to see him in so much pain.

Apollo, too, flinched. He hadn't wanted to do it, but he had to snap the bone back in place before it set wrong. It would've been ten times worse if they hadn't. They would've had to re-break the bones, and that would have been horrifying. But now that it could set right, things would be a lot easier and a lot less painful.

Thalia bit her lip and closed her eyes, trying to get rid of the echoing sound of Percy's screams. She swallowed hard and opened her eyes to find Apollo's hands glowing slightly. He was already fixing his leg, so that meant things were going to be alright. She took a deep breath, trying to ignore all the blood-stained sand beneath them. She looked up and found Annabeth shaking, trying to keep Percy calm.

She wasn't sure how long it was, but eventually Percy's cries silenced down to murmurs with the odd exclaim of pain. His breathing turned back to normal, and he relaxed immensely. Thalia sighed and sat back. Her hands were shaking from holding him down so hard.

Apollo glanced up at her and saw her staring intently at his hands. They were covered with Percy's blood, but that didn't matter. His leg was almost healed enough were all that it would take to be completely fine was recovery.

"He'll need a cast," he mumbled. "I can put the pieces together, but for it to stay that way will take time and recovery."

Thalia just nodded and watched as he leaned back, breathing in a deep sigh. He wiped his forehead with his shoulder, cleaning away some of the sweat that had formed on his head. "Let's take him to the Big House."

Chiron nodded and Apollo carefully lifted Percy up onto Chiron's back, keeping him steady as they made their way to the Big House. Once in the infirmary, Apollo had a cast made and then it was placed on Percy's leg. A pair of crutches leaned against his bed as everyone gathered around him. He was awake—albeit a little loopy from the morphine Apollo gave him—and he was ready to tell his story.

"It was huge," Percy started, his voice tired and low with a slightly slur. Just its body alone was at least two hundred feet." He stopped, thinking hard. He had to break through the morphine haze to remember what he saw. "It had, like, ten or twelve tentacles. They were massive and long, at least a hundred feet long."

Thalia stood frozen, leaning against the wall by the door. This was similar to what she had seen when she had been pulled under a few days ago.

"Its eyes were huge and it had a gigantic mouth with rows and rows of teeth." His brow furrowed. "All the sea creatures in the lake…they're gone. They weren't eaten, but they were summoned away. It was strange…"

Apollo felt his world crash. This just confirmed that he was right. He knew who was behind this.

He looked up at Chiron, who was staring at him already, his eyes penetrating into his head.

Dionysus, who was sitting silently in the back corner, stiffened.

"That's…all I remember," Percy said. Annabeth grasped his hand tightly.

"No," Chiron said, shaking his head. "That's more than enough. You did well. And now, let us leave so he can get some rest."

As expected, Annabeth stayed in the room with him while the others stepped out, looking remorse. Mr. D, back tight and his posture stiff went back to his card game. Chiron gave Apollo a tired look. "Let us talk tomorrow. Let's just take it easy right now."

Apollo didn't say anything. He just watched as the ancient, wise trainer headed farther back into the Big House. He looked down at Thalia, who looked worried and exhausted. Thalia felt his stare and looked up into his bright green eyes.

"Thank you, Apollo," she murmured, "for helping Percy."

He nodded. Then, he leaned down and kissed her hard on the mouth. She responded for a second before pulling away.

"I'm glad you're safe," Apollo mumbled, pulling her into his arms and holding her close. Thalia sighed deeply, taking in his foresty scent. He knew how to comfort her, and she felt so warm in his arms.

She pulled back with a reluctant expression. She would have loved to hug him all day, but she was exhausted. "I'm going to go relax…maybe get some sleep."

The trauma of Percy from earlier was still fresh on her mind. She could still hear his screams. It caused shivers to run down her spine.

Apollo just watched as she left the room and out the Big House, his mind heavy with guilt.

* * *

As the last sun rays hit the lake, Apollo could be found at the beach, staring unblinking at the deadly abyss. Right now, he was trying to deal with the guilt: the guilt of lying to everyone, the guilt of letting Percy go down there…

He shuddered as he remembered Percy's traumatic experience from earlier. It wasn't the worst thing he had seen, but it made it ten times harder to heal because it was someone he knew, someone he respected. And, also, because he had sent him after the monster knowing that the results could be fatal.

The Kraken. That's what it was called.

It was a deadly monster. It was usually residing in the deepest, deepest depths, mainly the Mariana Trench, but if summoned, it would learn to survive in shallower tides. This creature was a loose cannon. Even Poseidon had trouble containing it.

But Apollo knew of someone who could also control it for at least a little while. Someone who also had ties to the water. Someone who was coming after Apollo for revenge.

"I think you're just unlucky."

Apollo blinked and glanced over to see Dionysus standing next to him, also staring out at the lake while drinking a Diet Coke.

"Pardon?" he replied.

"You," Dionysus said. "I think you're just unlucky, because it's nearly impossible that someone would have to face two blasts from the past within six months."

Apollo sighed and watched as the clouds started turning from pink-ish purple to dark blue. "You're probably right. But that doesn't explain how this guy escaped from the Underworld."

"He's powerful, remember," Dionysus mumbled.

They fell into a silence, because Apollo knew it was true. If he was going to deal with this guy, he was going to have to use his smarts, not so much his godly powers.

"Does she know?"

Apollo bit the inside of his cheek. He swallowed and reluctantly replied, "…No."

Dionysus raised a brow. So, he hadn't told his girlfriend that he was a lying bastard. Interesting, especially since he had proposed to her and they could possibly get married.

He just sighed as nightfall fell over them, the stars beginning to shine. "Either way, Cephissus is using her to get to you. Either way…he's coming."

* * *

**Talk about intense. **

**Kudos to Perseus12 who figured out the monster right away. About the Kraken...he's not specifically Greek Mythology, but it was hard to find a massive sea monster that wasn't used already in the books. And about the bad guy, Cephissus...I couldn't find crap about him except for, like, one sentence that pretty much spurred this whole story. He was mentioned in my Researching Apollo story, and that was all I could find about him pertaining to Greek Mythology. So a lot of the stuff that you find out about him in later chapters is mostly made up. **

**Thanks for reading and review please! **

**-Akatsuki Child**


	5. Lies and a Quest

**I really have no excuse for why this came out a little late. Compared to the last chapter, this was nothing. Anyways, we have some romance, drama...the usual :) Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO!**

* * *

**Lies and a Quest**

**"**Why won't you marry me?"

Thalia sighed to herself and shifted against the tree she and Apollo were currently leaning against. It was the same night of Percy's injury. The same night Apollo's fears of Cephissus returning were confirmed. It was well into the night, around one-thirty in the morning. They were sitting on the forest's edge near the beach, staring at the dangerously calm harbor. They were leaning against a huge oak tree as its branches loomed above them, but not cutting of the bright light emitting from the full moon.

She turned and straddled Apollo's waist, running her hands through his hair to wind around his neck. His large hands, calloused from years of archery and fighting, landed on her petite hips. He realized she was so small compared to him. He was built, but he wasn't buff. He was _lean._ And even though she was a girl, she was still like a twig next to him. He felt like if he wasn't careful, he could just break her in half. But he also knew that she was stronger than she looked.

Thalia tried to gather her thoughts as she stared into his dark green eyes, only visible from the natural light of the moon. She felt like her soul was exposed to him. She felt that he could see all of her fears, all of her worries. She wished it was that easy.

"Apollo…I'm young…" she started slowly, playing with the collar of his shirt. "I love you. But…what if that changes in a few years?" She winced at the thought—without being around him and in his arms—and immediately drove out the terrible thoughts that were threatening to overcome her imagination. "I don't want that," she whispered.

Apollo mulled over this for a second. For Thalia, it was the least complicated answer of all her troubles. Even then, it was still a difficult subject to discuss, and it was still hard to figure out how to convey her fears.

Apollo sighed and pushed her back, hovering over her petite frame. He leaned down, his breath, smelling minty, washed over her face. She shivered and pulled him in for a kiss. She reveled in the familiar warm feeling pooling in her belly.

"But you love me, right?" Apollo mumbled against her lips.

Thalia nodded. "More than anything. But…what if _you_ won't want me in a few years?"

He sighed a bit and brushed butterfly kisses across her cheeks. "Stop over thinking it," he demanded. He kissed her deeply, pouring all the love and compassion he felt for her into that one kiss. Thalia's breath was punched out of her. She couldn't help but gasp at the amazing amount of emotion he was showing her. He was opening his heart to her, allowing her to see that his love for her was real and that it was all-consuming. "I love you, and I always will," he whispered against her lips. "I'll want you forever. I promised I would stay faithful to you, Thalia. It's not a hard promise to keep." He pulled back and smiled wryly at her.

Thalia gave him a small smile. "Then let's wait."

Apollo stared into her bright blue eyes. He gave a small sigh and nodded. He sat up and leaned back against the tree. Thalia felt cool air rush across her body from where Apollo's body previously occupied. She bit the inside of her cheek as she sat up on her elbows. She felt bad for denying Apollo's request so much, but there were too many liabilities. Right now, the cons were outweighing the pros. As much as she loved his reassuring thoughts, it wasn't enough right now.

She sat up, ignoring the guilty and helplessness washing over her and making her sick to her stomach. She scooted back against the tree next to Apollo, leaning into his side and resting her head on his chest.

They stared out into the harbor as the waves crashed evenly on the beach. Thalia started thinking back on Percy's story and how his and hers were similar. She would have to talk to Annabeth tomorrow and see if she had figured anything out about the monster.

"We need to kill it," Thalia spoke aloud suddenly.

Apollo nodded. "Yeah…the Kraken…it's a dangerous monster."

Thalia blinked. She pulled back and stared at Apollo, who was staring unseeingly at the lake. "W…what did you just say?"

"The Kraken…it's a—"

He suddenly stopped, his eyes snapped over to Thalia. She was staring at him with a harsh gaze, her eyes disbelieving and her mouth agape. He quickly snapped his mouth shut and averted his eyes from her.

"You knew," she whispered. Raged laced through her words and they pierced Apollo like a knife. He winced.

"I…might've had a clue…"

"And yet you lied to me!" she exclaimed. She stood up abruptly, glaring daggers at him.

Apollo rushed up to his feet. "Look, Thalia, let me explain—"

"You knew all this time, and yet when I asked, you lied to me! To _everyone!_ You let Percy go down there knowing he would get hurt!" Tears pricked her eyes as she stared at him. He stared back, regret and shame in his eyes, but he didn't say anything.

Thalia huffed and brushed past him. He reached out and grasped her wrist. "Thalia, please, listen!"

"No!" she exclaimed as she wrenched her arm free from his hold. "Just leave me alone." She stomped off back to her cabin, ignoring the urge to run back and beat the snot out of him.

How could he lie to her? They were supposed to trust each other! How could he expect her to marry him if he wouldn't tell her these things? Who knew what else he wasn't telling her? And how could he have let Percy go down there?

When she arrived at her cabin, she slammed the door shut behind her and collapsed on her bed with a frustrated sigh. Besides being ticked off, she was thoroughly hurt that he wouldn't tell her, his possible future wife.

Apollo wanted to blast something. He would've chosen himself if that were possible. Anything to make himself feel like less of a jerk. He had so many opportunities to tell her. He should've known this was coming, and it only served to make his frustrations greater. And now, she was pissed at him. Because of this, he might've even turned her thoughts towards declining his proposal.

_Way to go, Apollo,_ he thought bitterly.

Sighing angrily, he gave the lake one last look before disappearing in the woods.

The sky was dreary the next day. Big, dark, looming clouds lurked in the sky. The temperature had dropped immensely from the previous day, but the intense humidity made up for it. Thalia's skin broke out into a cold sweat as soon as she stepped out of her cabin. She stalked her way to the Big House on Chiron's orders. She was still pissed about Apollo, so when she walked in to see him lurking in the corner with his arms crossed. Their eyes met when she stepped inside, but she quickly averted them, scowling at the floor.

Percy and Annabeth were also in there, along with Chiron. Thalia noticed that Percy, with his cast and crutches, looked pretty pale still. She smiled sadly at him and he just shrugged a bit. She sat down at the small table beside Annabeth as Chiron started talking.

"Well, now that we're all here, let's get down to business." He shifted in his wheelchair. "There's a quest open, and I want Thalia and Annabeth to go on it. I'd have you go too Percy, but for obvious reasons I can't send you."

Percy nodded sadly, looking down at his cast. The pain he had felt the day before lingered in his leg, only it was down to a dull throb. He swallowed hard, his stomach doing jumping-jacks and his face becoming even paler.

Chiron continued, glancing at Apollo. "…We—Apollo and I—have talked, and we've decided on where you guys are to go and what you are to do."

Thalia's eyes narrowed and she looked up at Apollo with a deadly glare. Apollo met her eyes with his own hard stare. His arms remained crossed in a defiant expression as the two stared each other down.

"So," Thalia spoke up through the tense silence. "What else has Apollo neglected to tell us?"

Annabeth and Percy glanced at each other, thoroughly confused, and Chiron winced slightly. Apollo's hard stare turned into a glare as he unfurled from his stance. His hands clenched into fists at his side. For once, he felt truly angry and upset at Thalia. Couldn't she see that his lie had been a way of protecting her?

"Who exactly are we going up against here?" Annabeth interrupted, holding up her hands.

There was a pause, and then Chiron said, "Cephissus."

The metaphorical crickets chirped.

"Uh…who's that?" Annabeth asked, for once not having any _clue_ about what was going on.

"He's a highly dangerous man," Apollo spoke up, breaking his stare-down with Thalia. She followed his movements as he shifted from his corner to stand beside Chiron.

"Another one of your enemies?" Thalia asked smartly.

His eye twitched. "Yes, as a matter of fact. He was a cocky, no-good, power-hungry river god. So, I turned him into a sea monster."

"Oh that was smart."

He ignored Thalia. "However, he was able to trick a demigod into releasing him from his form some hundred thousands of years ago. I fought him with Poseidon and we chained him in the Underworld. Somehow, he escaped."

"Now he's after Apollo," Chiron filled in. "We need to stop him and his pet Kraken before he destroys the whole camp."

He let that sink into the demigods. Percy was stiff, mainly because he didn't want Annabeth and Thalia to go up against this guy. He sounded like bad news. He seemed like Kronos: unwilling to give up.

"Of course, you'll need to grab someone on the way…" Apollo trailed off.

Annabeth raised a brow. "Who?"

He stared at her. "Why, Nico, of course."

It was around one in the afternoon. Thalia stood on top of Half-Blood Hill next to her pine tree where the Golden Fleece hung with Peleus. The dragon let off a sheen of smoke when she came into his sight.

"Hey, boy," Thalia greeted, patting his head. He gave a long snort of approval, probably knowing this was her tree. He rested his head on the ground and continued his mid-day nap.

Thalia shifted her book-bag so it was situated more comfortably. Suddenly, she felt a heat behind her. Her eyes narrowed and she turned to see Apollo. He was staring at her with unemotional eyes, trying to keep up his calm façade. She crossed her arms and stared him down.

Apollo cleared his throat uncomfortably. Suddenly, things were awkward. "Well…good luck. And…be careful."

She gave one stiff nod, and even though his concern was touching, she was still pissed at him. "So, anything else you want to say before I go? Anything you left out?"

Apollo's façade of civility instantly dropped. Anger flared in him. "Would you quit the jabs already?" he asked angrily, taking a step towards her.

"Excuse me if I'm still pissed about you _lying_ to _everyone_ and letting my friend get hurt!" she shouted back.

"You don't think I feel bad? I do, honestly! But can't you see that I was trying to protect you?"

"How was lying protecting me?"

"He's using you to get to me! I didn't want you getting hurt again!"

They were practically nose to nose. They were breathing hard as his statement filled Thalia's senses and invaded her mind. Softly, Apollo continued, "You…could get killed. He'll do it. And if that happened…" He shook his head. "I almost lost you once, and I'm not going to take that chance again."

Thalia stared into his eyes, searching for any sign of dishonesty. She found none. He truly thought his actions were justifiable, and his concern was evident and clear. She couldn't help but feel her heart lurch for him, to forgive him.

She licked her lips and took a deep breath. "Why do we need to take Nico?" she asked quietly, looking away from him.

Apollo swallowed and took a step back, putting some space between them. "He can take you to the Underworld without being smited. He's the key to chaining Cephissus back to the Underworld. Trust me, you're going to need him."

Just then, Annabeth came up the hill with a hobbling Percy. He was sweating from his feat to get up the hill. Apollo stepped back, his eyes still locked with Thalia's.

"Ready?" Annabeth asked after giving Percy a hug. Thalia sighed and nodded. She smiled and Percy who grinned back at her.

"Don't get killed," he simply said. She rolled her eyes but didn't say anything. She then turned to look at Apollo.

There was an awkward air between them. Right now, things were still tense. Thalia was still mad, and Apollo knew that if he hugged her, kissed her, anything…he would hold on and he wouldn't let her leave for this quest. But she needed to go.

So, Thalia merely nodded at him. Then, the two turned and stalked down the hill without another word, climbing into the van that Argus was standing in front of.

Percy glanced at Apollo, confused by their lack of goodbye. He just sighed and watched as the van pulled away and headed towards the cities. Eventually, he said to Apollo, "They'll be all right. They'll do a good job."

Apollo sighed and nodded slightly. Percy turned and started limping back to Camp.

A few minutes later, Dionysus appeared. He had a feeling that Apollo was planning on doing something. He could see the calculating look in Apollo's eye as he stared off after the van that was long gone.

"Remember," he said, breaking into Apollo thoughts. "You cannot interfere directly unless Cephissus challenges you."

Apollo glanced at the wine-god. "I know."

But, among other things, Apollo was the god of prophecies, and he knew that he would, indeed, be challenged.

* * *

**Things are a little rough between them now. Oh no! Don't worry, it'll be patched up soon. And Nico will come in! Yay! **

**I totally made up that crap about Cephissus. The only true thing was that Apollo turned him into a sea monster. Oh well! **

**Thanks for reading and review please!**

**-Akatsuki Child**


	6. Nico di Angelo

**Wooooow. I can't believe I'm actually updating this. I actually just wrote this in like an hour so...enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO!**

* * *

**Nico di Angelo**

As Argus drove the van to the cities, passing fields of strawberry patches and other produce, Thalia zoned out as Annabeth cleaned her dagger. The daughter of Zeus was currently thinking about the one man that was always occupying her thoughts.

How could Apollo lie to her? He had let Percy go into that water. He had lied to Annabeth. He had lied _to her face_. That night, when they were in her cabin, he had blatantly said he didn't know a thing about it. She didn't understand what he was thinking. The only thing she wanted was for Apollo to be honest with her. How could she marry a man that wouldn't tell her the truth?

She couldn't.

"You're mad at Apollo, right?"

Thalia looked over at Annabeth, who was still cleaning her weapon. She sighed. "Yeah, I am."

Annabeth bit her lip. "I'm not saying you shouldn't be mad at him, but you can't completely ignore him."

Thalia bit her lip from replying with a smart remark. "And Percy's never lied to you?"

The daughter of Athena gave her a look, raising a brow. "It's Percy."

Right. "So then you know what I'm feeling." She crossed her arms and looked out the window.

Annabeth just sighed. What was the point? Thalia was the most stubborn person she knew. Especially when it came to love. She didn't blame Thalia for being upset with Apollo. He was a jerk to withhold that information from her—from everyone! But if those two were going to stay together, then they needed to talk about it and get over it.

Unfortunately, they were both too proud to budge an inch.

When they arrived in town, Argus started taking turns and streets to a familiar place.

"Wait," Annabeth said, sitting forward. "Central Park?"

The eye on Argus closest to Annabeth blinked, as if to say _Obviously._

"Why though?"

Of course, Argus didn't answer. He just rolled his eyes (which was really disturbing) and continued to drive. When they arrived, Thalia and Annabeth stepped out cautiously and watched as Argus got out, pointed to a tree, and then shook his head, getting into the van and driving away.

Annabeth nodded. "Of course."

Thalia stared at Annabeth with a deadpan expression. "You can't tell me you understood that."

"Of course I did," she replied. "The tree's shadow. Nico shadow-travels."

"So then why didn't he take us to the Chrysler building? Or Daisy's Doughnuts?"

Annabeth bit her lip. "I'm still trying to figure that out."

Thalia sighed. "Right. So now what?"

Annabeth held up a golden drachma. "We Iris-message him."

The two started walking towards the fountain that was conveniently located near them. Argus was smart to drop them off here. As Annabeth threw her coin into the rainbow, Thalia couldn't help but look up at the sky as a chilly wind blew across them. The temperature was slowly dropping as big, heavy, storm clouds started to form. They were creeping along towards the sun, threatening to block their sunlight.

"Uh, Annabeth…" Thalia started slowly, grabbing her bow. "You might want to hurry."

"Nico di Angelo!" Annabeth exclaimed. "And quick!"

Within a minute, the image of a sleeping Nico appeared. He must have been outside because his hair was blowing slightly and there was a leaf stuck in his hair.

"Nico!" Annabeth shouted. Immediately, the boy shot up into a fighting stance, simultaneously grabbing his Stygian sword. His breathing was hard, but when he finally came to his senses and saw the mirage, he relaxed.

"Oh. It's just you Annabeth," he sighed. "Wha…what do you need?" he yawned.

"We need your help on a quest," Annabeth said quickly, glancing at the sky. It was steadily becoming dark. "You need to come to Central Park right now."

Nico blinked. "What—"

But just then, the clouds started to obscure the sun's rays, causing their connection to cut in and out.

"Just come here! And hurry!" Annabeth exclaimed just as the image disappeared all together.

Thalia didn't like this one bit. Something was up. Just as she thought that, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up as lightning lit up the sky, followed by a monstrous _boom!_ of thunder.

_What's going on, Dad?_ she thought tensely. Of course, there was no answer except for another round of lightning and thunder. The lightning was becoming more and more frequent. Suddenly, from the tree came Nico di Angelo, scaring the living daylights out of Thalia.

"Nico!" she exclaimed, swatting him with her bow.

Nico waved her bow away. "What the hell is your problem?"

Thalia just glared at him.

"Hey," he defended, _"you_ asked me to…come here…"

At that moment, he had finally noticed the chaos rampaging in the sky above them. He swallowed hard and grabbed his sword, gripping the hilt. "Um…this isn't good."

"You think?" Thalia retorted.

"Nico," Annabeth cut in, "we need your help."

"With what?" he asked as the three started making their way down the path back towards the city. They were all on guard, knowing that something bad was about to happen.

"Um…well…" Annabeth's brow furrowed. "It's a little hard to explain—"

Suddenly, lightning struck a spot ten yards ahead of them. The three flew back in separate directions, landing in bushes, next to a bench, or in Thalia's case, clipping a tree with her leg and landing next to it, writhing in pain.

She hissed and grasped her leg, which was now dripping with blood from a gash that had been cut when she'd hit the tree. She struggled to her feet, her breathing ragged, and looked at the spot where the lightning had hit. The grass all around it was charred and a few bushes had caught on fire as leaves from a nearby tree fell to the ground from the blast.

Eyes wide, she watched in horror as a man started making his way towards her. He was tall with tan skin and an evil smile. He limped like he had an injury, but she couldn't see because he was wearing a black suit. Wrapped around his shoulders and torso were tentacles, and when she looked closer, she saw that one of the tentacles had been chopped down to a stub.

And that's when she knew that this man was Cephissus.

He practically reeked of danger as he continued to stalk towards Thalia, his eyes lighting up with evil delight. His eyes were pale blue, but upon closer inspection, Thalia could see that they changed from green, blue, and purple.

"So," he mused, his voice strong and loud. Thalia had no trouble believing this guy could be a dictator. "This is the legendary Thalia."

He chuckled and Thalia could only raise a brow. She glanced from the corner of her eye and saw Annabeth and Nico were starting to stir from the blow. She guessed that since she was a child of Zeus, the lightning hadn't affected her as much.

"Legendary?" Thalia replied, trying to keep his attention away from her friends.

"Oh yes. Even among monsters, you and your friend Percy Jackson are famous," he replied, growling Percy's name. He stroked the tentacles around his shoulders, and Thalia had a sneaking suspicion that that thing was the Kraken.

"You know Apollo," Thalia said, wincing as she shifted her leg, causing the gash to sting.

Cephissus just smirked. "At first, I wasn't too sure that you were his little girlfriend, but now I'm positive."

Thalia just swallowed hard. With a dark, amused chuckle, he flicked his hand and monsters of all sorts started to emerge from the trees. She watched, horrified, as they attacked her friends. Both Annabeth and Nico had stirred awake, but now they were fighting for their lives.

The monsters were odd. She'd never seen them before. They were part human, part sea monster. Most of them had tentacles or squid-like features. They must have been his personal monsters, because there was no way they were ancient monsters like the dracaena.

"You know, there's just something about having the upper-hand that I _love_," Cephissus mused. He pulled out a long, three-foot sword from his hilt at this waist and pointed it at Thalia. "And killing you will give me that advantage over Apollo that I'm seeking for."

She watched as he raised his large sword and swung it down towards her. At the last second, she rolled away, ignoring the immense pain in her leg. Quickly, he attacked again but she was able to block the blow with her bow. She pulled herself up to her feet as he slashed at the tree, causing it to collapse and killing three of his monsters.

"Fiesty," Cephissus growled. "I like it."

Thalia grimaced, limping backwards. You know, for a man who appeared to be injured, he was doing pretty well.

But she knew that he had her now. He was closing in, swinging his sword and grinning like there was no tomorrow. Thalia clenched her bow, looking around for an alternative. Unfortunately, she was surrounded. Her friends were preoccupied, and she couldn't use her combat skills.

He raised his sword again. "Pleasure knowing you, Thalia," he smiled, bringing it down in an arc.

But the blow was blocked.

Thalia blinked rapidly, staring up at the familiar blonde standing in front of her.

"Apollo," she breathed. "What…"

"Lay a finger on her," he spoke with a deadly tone, "and it'll be the last thing you do."

Cephissus only smirked. "So you finally decided to show yourself."

Apollo just glared at him as Cephissus laughed. "To think that you would risk your life for _her_…"

Thalia glared at him harshly. "You know if I wasn't—"

But Apollo grasped her arm in a deadly vice, willing her to be quiet. She bit her lip and settled for a cold, harsh glare at Cephissus.

The former sea monster chuckled. "Fine. You win this one, Apollo. But just know that I'm not the only monster coming with revenge."

And with that, he disappeared in a flash of light, his monsters slowly disintegrating to a weird, blue-green water.

The four remained silent as the events that just happened started to sink in. Thalia stared at Apollo, who held a solemn expression. He wouldn't look at her. He just continued to stare at the spot that Cephissus had previously occupied.

Nico threw his hands up. "I'm not even part of this quest for five minutes and we're already getting attacked," he huffed, sounding angry. "Wow, this is going to be great."

* * *

**It's obviously a little slow compared to my other chapters. I'm trying to get back into writing for Fanfiction, and I've actually come up with plausible plot for this story now :) Thanks for reading and review please!**

**-Akatsuki Child**

**P.S. Thanks to all my readers and reviewers! Your support really helps! :) **


	7. Next Stop: Chicago

**Haha! Fast update! :D Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO!**

* * *

**Next Stop: Chicago**

The three demigods and sun god gathered around a secluded part of the park. While Annabeth consulted with Nico, explaining all that had happened at Camp, Thalia sat on the half-broken bench so that Apollo could heal her leg.

There was a tense, awkward silence that was thickening between the two. Thalia was staring unseeingly towards his hands, which glowed a light green over her leg from his healing powers. She felt warmth and seep into the cut, instantly relaxing her whole leg. Ironically, it was the same leg that had gotten shot with an arrow. Funny how things worked like that.

On the flip side, Apollo had a flurry of thoughts running through his mind. One of them being—of course—Thalia. It was like Meliboea all over again. Now that it was confirmed that Cephissus was the enemy here, his worries about her safety increased tenfold. Cephissus was a dangerous man. He was one of the most power-hungry people in their history. That's why Apollo had to turn him into a sea monster: he was just too dangerous. He had the knowledge and means to obtain mighty power, but he used it for evil ways.

It was obvious that Cephissus was bitter and angry towards Apollo. (Who wouldn't be after being turned into a sea monster?) And like most of Apollo's enemies, they sought revenge on him by hurting his loved ones, not he himself. He'd rather take the brunt (he knew he could handle them—he'd done it before) instead of someone like Thalia.

He swallowed hard, pushing back all the worry and anger he felt: anger towards their fight, worry about her safety. He knew that between their impasse and the new threat, things were not going to be very pleasant between them.

Apollo sighed softly, leaning back when he finished healing Thalia's leg. "There," he spoke, an edge of bitterness to his voice as he stood up. Thalia stared at him, a pang of hurt striking her along with anger. "Hey—"

"Alright," Nico interrupted, standing up to Apollo. "Explain to me what the Hades is going on."

Apollo sighed and leaned against the stub of the tree that had been knocked over, crossing his arms and staring at his colorful shoes. "Fine. A while back, the gods started having troubles with this river god, Cephissus. He was a real power-hungry man, intent on using his power to basically unleash chaos on mortals—causing floods, droughts, and even a mini hurricane once. Honestly, I couldn't stand the guy. He was a no-good, cocky prick. I suggested turning him into a sea monster and letting Poseidon control him, knowing that Poseidon would be able to keep an eye on him and contain him if necessary."

Nico blinked. "Sounds pretty bulletproof to me. How'd he escape?"

"Some foolish demigod was tricked into releasing him some thousand years ago," Apollo said grimly. "Rage and power don't mix well together. It causes a man to go crazy—uncontrollable, unpredictable. Poseidon and I fought hard to contain him. Eventually, we were able to constrain him to the Underworld with the help of your father."

Nico let that process as Annabeth mentioned, "And now we need your help to chain him back."

Apollo nodded. "Only Hades or a child of Hades can bond a creature to the Underworld. Unfortunately, your father wasn't too happy to help us the first time, and I highly doubt he'd help us this time around."

He thought about it for all of two seconds before finally shrugging. "Sounds cool to me. I'm in."

Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"So now we head to the Underworld, right?" he asked.

"Right," Apollo responded. "He'll no doubt be following us, trying to kill us, so when we finally get to L.A., it'll be easier to capture him and get him down there."

And so, the quartet gathered their stuff and started chasing the sun towards L.A.

They got to the edge of the city before finally stopping to make camp for the night. When asked why Apollo was still traveling with them, he simply replied, "He…somewhat challenged me. As far as I'm concerned, that's good enough, meaning I don't have to hold back as much."

And that was that. Apollo would be travelling with them.

"But doesn't that upset the Golden Three rule?" Annabeth asked, glancing towards Nico. No one, especially Nico, could forget what happened when more than three demigods went on a quest. "I know you're a god and everything, but even gods have to obey by Ancient rules."

"We'll be fine, I'm sure," he mumbled, not exactly looking at her.

Annabeth just bit her tongue. She wanted to say more, but she knew it would be done in futile. Nothing was going to keep Apollo from staying with Thalia now.

As Nico and Annabeth started setting up camp, Apollo went to lean against a tree, staring at the outline of Manhattan, one of the greatest cities in America. He would always remember his time there last Christmas, when he fell in love with Thalia.

"It's pretty cool, huh?"

The sun god glanced over and found Thalia standing beside him, her black hair blowing softly in the breeze as her electric blue eyes lit up the night.

"Hm," he hummed, looking back towards the skyline.

"That man could build something so…complicated."

Thalia glanced towards him, watching as his face tensed and his jaw clenched. His eyes became guarded, hiding all the emotions she knew he was feeling. She hated that when they fought, their fights lasted for days on end. Thankfully they didn't fight too often, but when they did…She just hated it.

"Why didn't you just tell me when you realized it was him?" she asked softly, breaking through his thoughts.

He swallowed away his bitter feelings, shaking his head lightly. "I didn't want you to worry. I knew that if I told you, you would only try to help, and I _don't_ want another repeat of Meliboea," he muttered darkly.

Thalia gave a humorless chuckle. "Well it pretty much _is_ a repeat."

"Yeah, and I almost lost you," he pointed out, standing up to tower over her. He stared into her eyes, trying to convey his feelings, to show her why he had lied to her: to protect her.

"I could've helped you," she said strongly. "I'm not weak!"

Apollo didn't say anything for a minute. Then… "I can't risk it," he muttered quietly.

Thalia stared back into his eyes, trying to understand exactly what he was thinking. She was starting to see just exactly how much he cared for her. All the worry and concerns he held for her…all the love…it caused her heart to burst to know that someone cared so deeply for her.

But there was always that one problem.

"How can I trust you if you won't let me in?" she asked softly, almost too lightly for him to hear.

Apollo froze, stunned by her accusation. On the contrary, he'd shown her more of himself than he'd ever shown a woman. None of his ex-girlfriends or past lovers could measure up to Thalia. She loved every aspect of him, the good and the bad. She'd lost her position as his sister's lieutenant, and yet she'd stayed with him.

But she was right. Why couldn't he trust her?

"I'm sorry," he suddenly apologized, never breaking eye contact with her bright blue eyes. "I'm sorry for lying to you and for not trusting you. I'm just so _scared_," he said honestly, grabbing her upper arms gently. "I'm scared of losing you. I'm scared you'll get hurt…" He swallowed hard, his voice lowering to a low mumble. "I'm afraid that I'll break my promise to you, or that you'll realize how much better you can do."

All of the jumbled thoughts and feelings in Thalia's head suddenly came to a halting stop. Understanding slowly filled her body as she finally realized exactly why Apollo had lied to her. She knew it took a lot for a man to admit he was scared, but to know that he was scared because he loved her so much…it did wonders to her heart.

Slowly, she grabbed his strong jaw in her small, lithe hands. She smiled softly, staring into his sad, bright green eyes. She leaned in and placed her lips onto his in a soft, reassuring kiss. He gratefully kissed her back, loving that familiar feel of her soft lips against his.

She pulled back but kept him close. "I'll always love you," she murmured. "You have nothing to be afraid of."

And he believed her, even if the feeling only lasted for a few days before that constant, lingering fright settled back in.

* * *

The next day, the sun was shining bright and hot and there was a slight breeze in the air. The four had packed up camp and was now conversing about travel plans to get to L.A.

"What about the entrance back in Manhattan?" Nico suggested. "It would save a lot of time."

"But we need Cephissus to follow us," Annabeth reminded.

"And besides," Apollo spoke up, "Hades blocked off the exit. He probably figured we would try to use it. He's going to try to go against us as much as possible, even if you are here," he clarified, looking towards Nico.

"Okay…" Thalia trailed. "So then how do we get there?"

Apollo then produced four tickets from thin air. Upon closer inspection, they were revealed to be train tickets that would get the group all the way to Chicago.

"Unfortunately, we have about a two hour drive to get to the train station, and after Chicago, we're on our own," he said.

"Alright…" Thalia trailed again. "And how do we get to the train station? Good old fashion walking?"

He smirked. "Nope."

And then suddenly, a black BMW Convertible appeared in front of them with the top down. There was a sun key-chain hanging from the rear-view mirror. The seats were gray leather, and the vehicle purred nice and low. It would give any car guru the goose bumps.

"Shot gun!" Nico shouted, practically sprinting over to the passenger's side and jumping in. Annabeth just sighed and climber in the seat behind the driver's seat.

"Ostentatious," Thalia said through clenched teeth, glaring at Apollo before crawling into the seat behind the passenger's seat.

Apollo just grinned, pulling his Aviators from his shirt and putting them on.

He loved being a god.

* * *

**Some drama and then light-hearted fun at the end. Hope you guys like the ApolloThalia bit in the middle.**

**I miss writing Percy :( I might have to bring him in sometime soon...**

**Thanks for reading and review please! Again, thanks to all of my supporters and to all those who reviewed last chapter!**

**-Akatsuki Child**


	8. The Basilisk

**WOW! I updated! Go me! I seriously got major inspiration for this story today, so I will most likely be updating for this story again :) Enjoy this chapter (I made it extra long)!**

**Disclaimer: Mr. Riordan owns PJO!**

* * *

**The Basilisk**

_The sky was dark and gray. Storm clouds were brewing in the sky, rolling black and low. A group of demigods and the sun god Apollo were located on a patch of field, just yards away from a cliff, fighting off a hoard of monsters. Lightning suddenly sparked in the air and struck down to the earth, zapping a group of monsters to dust. From the cloud of vaporized monsters came Thalia, sprinting towards another patch of monsters with her spear raised._

_Annabeth and Nico were back to back, fighting off some dracaena. A loud, resounding crack echoed throughout the field, and a large fissure appeared in the ground, out of which came crawling a multitude of skeletons, their jaws chattering as they latched onto monsters and dragged them back into the fissure. Annabeth disappeared under her Yankees cap and every now and then, a random monster would dissolve into golden dust. _

_The ocean below the cliff churned menacingly. The water was a murky gray and black as waves crashed against the cliffside. Another flash of lightning lit up the sky, revealing a large, black figure deep beneath the water's surface. A large, slimy tentacle emerged from the water, creeping up the side of the cliff._

_Suddenly, there was a loud cry. Above, dangling from the cliff's edge, was Thalia. Apollo, temporarily free from his fight, screamed her name and began sprinting towards the edge, but her grip was failing, her fingers began to slip, and the tentacle was nearly upon her…_

Percy's eyes snapped open, expelling the nightmare he was having. He blinked a couple times, surprised to find himself on the Big House porch, sitting in a lawn chair with his injured leg propped up. A long quilt was draped over his legs as a soft breeze rolled through the unusually cool summer day. Patches of sun broke through the thicket of clouds, temporarily warming his face.

"So you finally woke up," a voice said beside him. He looked over to see he was actually sitting at a table, opposite him was Mr. D in his usual tiger-print attire, holding up his playing cards for pinochle. To Percy's left was Chiron, confined in his wheelchair, also holding playing cards. To his right, a set of cards floated in the air by some imaginary player.

"Why am I out here?" Percy questioned. Mr. D gave him a sour look and glanced pointedly at Percy's own set of playing cards. Sighing deeply, the son of Poseidon picked up his cards, scanned them, and placed a bet.

"Old horsey here is worried about you," the wine god finally replied.

Chiron coughed embarrassedly. "Yes, well…You've been mumbling about Annabeth in your sleep, and quite frankly, I don't trust you."

Percy blinked in confusion. "I'm sorry…what?"

"Perhaps you remember, a few years ago, when you were forbidden from going on a quest, and yet you went anyways?" Mr. D cut in with a sharp look. "Oh, and I do believe it was when your dear Annabell was in danger, too."

"_Annabeth_," Percy corrected with a glare.

"_Whatever_. Point is, we're keeping you here under house arrest…or porch arrest, I guess you could say. Ah! Another round for me!"

As Mr. D began shuffling the cards once again, Chiron gave Percy a pitying look. "I understand that you would give the world to save Annabeth, and I also know that you would not hesitate to leave camp without permission. However, the fact is that you are injured, and so far we've heard no reports of them being in danger."

"Which is unfortunate. Now are you going to bet?" Mr. D asked impatiently.

"But I've been having dreams, Chiron," Percy replied, intentionally ignoring the god. "And something bad is going to happen."

"Dreams?" Chiron asked, intrigued.

"You've got to be kidding me…" Mr. D groaned. He rubbed his head as if he could feel a headache coming on. He snapped his fingers and a Diet Coke appeared, from which he took a long drink.

Percy began to describe the same reoccurring nightmare he'd been having even before the trio had left for their quest, even before the Kraken appeared at camp. He'd never told Annabeth, mostly because he was sure it was nothing. But when things started falling into place, he began to worry more and more. He wanted to tell Annabeth about it, but after getting injured, he had been so drugged up on painkillers he could barely remember where he was at sometimes.

After describing his dream, a solemn look came over Chiron's face. Even Mr. D looked a little put-out.

"It's certainly not the most terrifying dream," Mr. D spoke.

"But I worry about the implications behind it," Chiron finished. "If Apollo was with them, that means Cephissus will challenge him, if he hasn't already. And if Apollo is with them, that upsets the golden three rule…"

Percy swallowed. "And the last time that rule was broken…"

Silence fell upon the three occupants of the Big House porch, each consumed with their own thoughts. Dionysus wanted to crush Apollo for acting like a stupid mortal and falling in love with a demigod (his half sister, for gods' sake!), and Chiron seemed to be caught up in past memories, back to when a group of four had made their way to the hill, only to have a girl give up her life to save them.

Percy himself was thinking of the time not so long ago when he had snuck out of camp to go on the quest to help save Annabeth. There had been too many people, and they had lost not only Zoë, but Bianca di Angelo as well. With four of them on the quest now, a tragedy seemed inevitable, and Percy had two of his best friends and his girlfriend, whom he loved more than life itself, on the line for that tragedy. Granted, they had a god on their side, but even a god couldn't protect all of them. Even gods were bound by ancient laws.

"They'll be fine," Chiron said firmly, trying to convince not only them, but also himself.

"Yes," Dionysus confirmed. "So let us push this matter aside and get back to this game, shall we?"

But even as the pair continued on placing their bets, Percy wasn't convinced. He could feel that something was going to happen.

Somehow, he needed to heal up within the next couple of days and get his butt moving to Los Angeles.

* * *

The drive to the train station was rather uneventful. For the first ten minutes, Nico couldn't stop blabbing about how awesome and cool it was to be in such a hot car. Of course, being a guy and having a weird obsession for cars, Apollo only joined in excitedly, going on a long spiel about how it was a beauty and he couldn't believe it either and _blah, blah, blah._

It was a car. A _car_. Come on.

They continued talking on like that for half an hour. Of course, despite the heavy traffic, Apollo never once slowed down. He just continued talking animatedly while weaving expertly around traffic. Annabeth's hand continuously twitched towards her dagger, but she was always able to restrain herself and dug her fingernails into the leather seat instead. Thalia herself was about ready to take out her weapon and spear them both. However, since she neither wanted nor had the ability to do that, she settled for hitting her head against the back of the passenger's seat, to which Apollo asked, "Everything okay back there?"

Thalia was so tempted to punch that stupid, knowing smirk off his face, but instead she gave him a harsh, cold glare through the rearview mirror, but he only laughed it off.

Finally, after the guys were done talking ("Forty-five minutes…" Thalia muttered dangerously low), they were immersed in a relieved (at least for Thalia and Annabeth) silence. They traveled like this for a good fifteen minutes before Nico broke it with a whispered, "Gods this is so cool…"

Needless to say, Annabeth had to hold Thalia back from maiming the poor kid.

Upon arriving at the train station, Apollo could immediately tell that something was wrong. Maybe his senses were just going haywire since he was so worried. Through the whole car ride, even though he was talking to Hades' kid, he couldn't stop thinking about Cephissus. His seemingly endless chatter with Nico was only due to his nerves and frustration about the whole situation. Sure, he probably came off as cool and collected, seeming to be mostly unfazed by the new enemy. However, it wasn't true. There was no way he could be calm when Thalia was involved in a deadly situation. He was just very good at hiding his emotions.

At least, that's what he thought.

Little did he know that Thalia was actually onto him. When they were in the car and she _wasn't_ planning his death, she would catch his face in the rearview mirror—his eyes hardened with anger and fury, his jaw clenched, his face completely tense. But then it would vanish quickly before the other two could really notice. Thalia was familiar enough with Apollo to know when he was upset.

And he was furious.

Thalia figured it to be due to the fact that Cephissus was after her specifically. And while she was flattered by Apollo's concerns, he had to learn that she could take care of herself. She didn't need protection. She had definitely gone through her fair share of hardships in life. She could handle just about anything, including a power-hungry ex-sea monster who was intending to end her life.

It was no big deal.

However, Thalia also understood that her words weren't going to change his mind. Not necessarily because he didn't believe in her, but because he was too scared that something terrible and fatal would happen to her. The only way he would come to accept her claim was if he saw it for himself.

Pushing those thoughts to the back of her head, Thalia continued walking with the group towards the ticket station where there were three large panels. A sheet of glass separated the travelers from the workers, who sat behind counters talking through a speaker and distributing tickets to different destinations. Above the panels was a large screen that showed the train station number, where its destination was, and what time the train would be departing.

Upon glancing at the screen, they found the Chicago train would be leaving in fifteen minutes.

"Leave this one to me," Apollo said with a smirk, and within five minutes, they had a private, "first class" car just for the four of them.

"Classy, a god using his infinite amount of money and power to get the best," Thalia quipped sarcastically to Apollo as they moved toward the designated station.

"Hmm…more like a little gift from Dad," he replied with a dry smile. "I wouldn't waste my money on mortal matters like this."

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Of course. Silly me."

After a few more minutes, the train finally arrived and they boarded, moving towards their private seats. The train itself seemed innocent enough, but Apollo couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. He felt as if someone or some_thing_ was watching him, causing him to glance over his shoulder even as the train departed.

Thalia narrowed her eyes at him as he sat down beside her, albeit rigidly. "What's wrong with you?" she asked suspiciously.

Apollo's nose twitched. "Something's not right," he mumbled, grabbing her small hand in his larger one.

"I sense death here," Nico spoke solemnly in a low voice. "Either someone's already died…or they're going to."

Thalia gripped Apollo's hand tighter, and Annabeth shivered, saying, "Knock it off, Nico. You're giving me the creeps."

"Yeah? Try living with it everyday."

"Stop it, you two," Thalia cut in. "It's…probably nothing. Let's keep our guard up, but try not to worry about it."

But who was she kidding? She could feel it too. Cephissus must have been following them—which was ultimately good—but would they be able to hold off his attacks all the way to Los Angeles?

Annabeth, still tensed, nodded and sat back in her chair. She pulled out her dagger from her person and began cleaning the blade with the end of her jacket.

"Where the hell do you keep that thing?" Nico asked incredulously. Annabeth glared at him and replied with a smooth, "None of your business."

While those two seemed to get into a pointless argument, Thalia sighed, hoping for just a tiny moment of peace and quiet…

"So why won't you marry me?"

…That won't be coming any time soon.

Thalia bit her tongue, fighting off the urge to scream. She was exhausted, stressed from the threat of Cephissus, and of course, she was constantly thinking about Apollo. All she wanted was a tiny break from all of it.

"Are we going to do this now?" she asked, her voice strained.

Apollo felt a flush of irritation. "Why not? We've got some time to kill."

Thalia shook her head, looking away. "I just…can't, Apollo. Not now."

"That's not good enough, Thalia. Do you not want to be with me?" His voice was hurt.

She quickly grabbed his chin and made him look into her eyes. "Of course I want to be with you. I love you more than anything." She sighed, dropping her hand and gaze, instead staring at her hands that pulled nervously at the fraying on his shirt. "I'm just being realistic. I mean…let's face it. I'm probably just another mortal in a long list of them that you temporarily fell for. In a hundred years, you probably won't even remember me."

Throughout her little speech, her voice grew quieter until it was a mere whisper as a single tear dropped from her cheek. When she was finished, Apollo felt a flood of emotions rush through me, ranging from hurt to disbelief and above all to anger.

He grabbed her upper arms in a firm grip. "Don't you dare say that. Do you really have so little faith in me?"

More tears rushed to her eyes and spilled over, which were wiped away by Apollo. "I'm nothing special, Apollo. You could do so much better than me. I'm just afraid that, when I'm gone…you'll forget about me."

Apollo shook his head, his arms sliding down to grasp her hands tightly. He gave a bitter chuckle. "The one girl that I want and love more than anything is the one girl I can't have," he said spitefully. "Believe me, Thalia, when I say that you are perfect, and special in every way. You're spectacular, and I could never, _ever_ forget about you. Thalia, please…marry me."

His voice was so full of pleading, like if she didn't say yes, he was going to die. Which might not have been far from the truth, at least metaphorically. His green eyes shone with all of his love for her, his hands holding hers shook slightly with nervousness. For a second, Thalia felt hope and love soar through her. For a second, she felt that this was absolutely right, them being together…forever.

"I—"

Suddenly, the whole train was knocked around, as if a car had hit it at full speed. The occupants of the train were sent flying from their seats onto the ground or onto luggage. People from different cars began screaming, and loud crashes could be heard.

The three demigods and god leapt to their feet, their hearts racing a mile a minute, their eyes wild and determined. They each unsheathed their weapons: Thalia her spear and shield, Apollo his bow and arrows, Annabeth her dagger, and finally Nico with his Stygian sword.

Another loud crash resounded, seeming to come from the car ahead of them. Then, for a minute or two, there was nothing but silence.

"False alarm?" Nico asked hopefully.

Suddenly, the top of their car was ripped open, metal and steel grating together and getting tossed aside like a Frisbee. Up above, a large, serpent-like figure glared and hissed down at them, acid dripping from its fangs and nearly sending Nico up into flames, who nearly missed dodging the fiery gunk.

"Guess not!" Nico squeaked, staring at the scorched floor with horror.

"Don't look at its eyes!" Annabeth demanded. "It's a basilisk! One look into his eyes and you'll be paralyzed!"

_Just like Medusa all over again_, the wisdom daughter thought bitterly.

The basilisk dove into the cramped car, thrashing around and smacking Thalia and Apollo to the ground. Thalia's spear rolled to the other side of the room, underneath the seats that Annabeth and Nico had been sitting on. She cursed silently and quickly dodged its tail that attempted to strike her.

Apollo tried notching an arrow, but he didn't have any room to pull it back and make any real damage against the beast. Nico slashed at it, creating a minor cut, but the monster smacked him with his head, sending him flying down into the next car of people. Annabeth's dagger wasn't doing much damage either, though she was able to find some soft spots on his person with the help of her Yankees cap. But she knew their efforts were done in futile. There was only one thing that could kill it.

Thalia's eyes were still on her spear. Without a second thought, she dove forward towards it, but the monster noticed her sudden impulse. Jaw wide open, he attacked her, moving extremely fast. He probably would have gulped her up in one bite, but thanks to Annabeth's well-placed strike, the monster's jaw was thwarted to the side.

However, it wasn't exactly enough. His right fang managed to snag her shirt, tearing into her stomach where poison began seeping into her blood stream.

Thalia gave a cry as she was sent to the floor. Breathing hard and with the help of adrenaline, she ignored the pain and snatched her spear from under the seats and sent a thousand bolts through the animal. A shudder ran through its spine and it gave a loud, ear-shattering screech.

"This isn't working!" Apollo shouted. "I'm going up! I'll lead it out and away from here and deal with it on my own!"

Without another word, he slung his bow around his shoulders and leapt up to the hole in their boxcar, his strong arms pulling him through onto the roof of it. As expected, the basilisk roared and followed after him, slithering out of their compartment and onto the roofs of other cars, crunching and denting the metal.

Annabeth quickly stood up on the dented seats, her head poking through the hole to stare after the sun god sprinting down the train.

"Kill him with a mirror!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, hoping he had heard her or that he already knew that.

"A mirror?" Nico asked incredulously, sheathing his sword.

"It's eyes are what paralyzes. The only way to kill it is to get it to look at itself."

Nico nodded impressively. He glanced around the car, taking in all the damage. "Well, I hope Apollo gets a refund or something."

Thalia, who had still been sitting on the ground, used her spear to steady herself as she stood up on shaky legs. Her vision started swimming and she felt nauseous. She had a piercing headache and she felt weaker than she ever had before, not even when she had been turned back to a mortal from her immortal, huntress status.

"Thalia!" Annabeth shouted just as she caught the girl from falling over. With Nico's help they were able to lay her down on the one part of the floor that wasn't scorched or torn apart.

"What's wrong with her?!" Annabeth asked frantically, feeling her cheek and checking her neck for a pulse. Her eyes were fluttering, her breaths coming in short and raspy. "She's burning up!"

"Her stomach," Nico said slowly. His face was white as a ghost's.

The two demigods stared, shocked, at her stomach, which had been cut open. Blood seeped out from the gash and there was greenish-gray pus around the edges. Her skin was becoming paler and paler, and there was a noticeable drop in body temperature.

"No," Annabeth whispered. "This can't be happening. No, this isn't good."

Nico swallowed thickly. "I can feel her spirit slipping away."

Annabeth shook her head. "No. I won't let it happen. Get my bag and bring it over here. She was poisoned by the basilisk's fangs. We need to slow it down until Apollo gets back. He'll be able to heal her."

Nico nodded solemnly and did as he was told. Annabeth wiped her friend's forehead, ignoring the clammy feel of her skin.

_Hurry up, Apollo…_

* * *

In an unknown place underwater, Cephissus resided in a murky, dark cave that had long been deserted by any natural marine life. Instead, the place was surrounded by sea creatures that had thought to have disappeared into Tartarus or had been forgotten and faded away. Most of them were monstrous and deformed, creatures that were too horrific for the imagination.

Within the cave, Cephissus sat on his make-shift throne of sand, coral, and the bones of smaller sea creatures. In front of him was a large globe of air, and within that globe resided a woman with blonde, flowing hair and a petite figure. Her eyes were closed, her face pale and deathly.

Cephissus smiled evilly. "Time for my little doll here to get up into the world and do my bidding."

With a wave of his hand, streams of black sand began to fill the woman's body until, finally, her eyes snapped open. After a minute of scanning her body, watching as her hair floated between her fingers, she looked up at Cephissus and gave him a wicked smile.

"You know the deal," Cephissus growled. "Do this, and you can have your immortality that you so desire."

The woman smirked, and with a charming voice, replied, "As you wish, Master."

Her form began to vanish, her body and spirit heading for dry land. The air bubble popped, leaving a few bubbles to float to the top of the cave before also popping.

Cephissus gave a felonious grin. With an evil chuckle, he sat back comfortably in his throne, a sense of victory filling him.

"Prepare yourself, Apollo."

* * *

** Ooooh, something's going to happen! Uh-oh! So, Percy's going to come to the rescue (like always), and Thalia's majorly hurt, with no Apollo to heal her! OMG!**

**Thanks for reading, sorry for not updating in so long, and please, please, please review! :)**

**-Akatsuki Child**


	9. It's For the Best

**I know it's been like twelve years since I've updated, but Life happened and I lost a lot of inspiration for basically all my stories. However, I was able to write a few chapters for this story. I know how I'm going to finish the story, now it's just a matter of finding the time and energy to write the chapters. **

**For those of you who have stuck with me through all the months and continuously support me-THANK YOU! It is GREATLY appreciated, and it's awesome to know that there are still people out there who want to read my stories. **

**Enjoy! Disclaimer: Rick Riordan owns Percy Jackson!**

* * *

**It's For the Best**

"Kill him with a mirror!" Apollo heard Annabeth yell far behind him. _Sure, _he thought sardonically, _I'll just use the one I carry around with me everywhere_. He knew she meant well, but she wasn't the one being chased by a massive, paralyzing snake. He quickly reached back and pulled out two flaming arrows from his quiver and notched them (a difficult feat to accomplish while sprinting on top of a train, by the way). As he reached the end of the cars, Apollo pushed off the edge with all his might, twisted in midair, and shot the bows at the basilisk. One spliced off a few scales while the other pierced through the creature's cornea, effectively blinding it.

The animal let out a keen, high-pitched screech, grating on Apollo's ears as he hit the ground and rolled into a summersault. He watched as the basilisk faltered and plummeted to the earth, writhing as dark blood and venom spewed everywhere. Apollo neatly dodged the poison, sprinting behind a large oak tree, and began thinking of a way to kill it. At the moment, he didn't have a mirror, but he was short-pressed for time and wouldn't be able to zap away to find one.

He ran a hand through his golden hair, sweat dripping down his neck. What he really needed right now was a lake, or a lens, or—

Suddenly an idea hit him. His hand grasped at the Aviator glasses that had somehow managed to stay clipped to his shirt. He bit the inside of his cheek. The glasses were special to him, but it was all he had. A plan was already forming in his head. He would just have to hope it worked.

Taking a deep breath, Apollo stuck the glasses into his pocket. He took out an arrow from his quiver. Tied to the end was a thick rope. Keeping a secure hold on the end, Apollo notched the rope arrow and, taking careful aim, shot it at the basilisk. It struck the animal near its blind eye, exactly where he had wanted it.

Apollo slung his bow across his back and began sprinting towards the creature. The thing had calmed down from its earlier tragedy—now it was furious, screeching and making unearthly sounds. Its good eye followed Apollo's form, darting around scorched parts of grass and leaping over fallen branches. The basilisk shrieked in rage and lurched forward, but Apollo was one step ahead.

He quickly removed another arrow from his arsenal and when the creature was close enough, he used all of his strength to impale the monster. He used its momentum to swing himself up onto its back, rope still in hand to act as a sort of reins. Even though the basilisk was screeching and thrashing, Apollo was close enough that he could hold the lenses up to the creature's eye.

And he did just that.

It was a difficult feat, but Apollo somehow managed to hold the Aviators in front of the creature. It continued thrashing, nearly throwing Apollo off, but its eye finally focused on the small object, staring at its own reflection. Its body shuddered but the creature only fought harder, knocking the glasses from Apollo's grip and throwing the sun god off its back, sending him flying through the air to crash into a tree.

Apollo groaned as a searing pain rippled through his back. He ignored it as best as he could, lifting himself up from the ground just in time to see the creature give one last terrifying scream before completely turning to stone. Its massive body crashed back to the ground, which caused part of its body to crack and break apart. The basilisk was no more.

Apollo stumbled to his feet. He was more disoriented than hurt, but after taking a few steps toward the monster, his head had cleared. His bow disappeared, the fight finally over. Sighing in relief, he turned back to the train tracks, took a few steps, and disappeared into thin air, making his way back to the others.

A few yards away from the now-dead basilisk laid the Aviators, the nosepiece bent and the lens of the left eye cracked in half.

* * *

Annabeth was having a panic attack. Maybe not on the outside, but inside she was freaking out, majorly. This was the second time within days that she had to try to keep one of her best friends from dying from an injury. She knew this was the everyday risk to being a demigod, but for gods' sake, it took a toll on a girl!

She removed the bandage currently pressed against the gash on Thalia's stomach. Blood was still seeping through and now greenish pus was collecting around the edges of the wound. Thalia's skin was cool and pale white. She was barely awake, her eyes flittering while she mumbled incoherently.

Tears stung the corners of Annabeth's eyes and she felt the twinge in the back of her throat. _Where the hell is Apollo?!_

Suddenly, Nico reemerged from the shadow in the boxcar, his arms full of miscellaneous supplies. "I got what you asked for," he announced, placing the items on the chair beside Annabeth.

The blonde scanned the items, but then she frowned as she picked up a bottle of Jack Daniels. "What the hell, Nico?" she asked, aggravated. "I asked for hydrogen peroxide."

Nico glared. "Yeah, well, I couldn't find any on the train and there's no time to go shadow travelling elsewhere. This is the best I could do."

Annabeth knew he was right, but that didn't make her any less angry. Putting alcohol on the wound would only serve to temporarily stump the poison, but it could also damage any healthy cells surviving near the cut. Given that the alternative was death, Annabeth figured Thalia would forgive her.

Annabeth cracked open the liquor and slowly poured it over the wound. Thalia winced and gave a short cry of pain through gritted teeth. Annabeth grabbed a new bandage and covered the gash, holding it steady to stem the blood flow.

"Just hold on, Thalia," Annabeth commanded. "Apollo's coming. He'll heal you."

Annabeth glanced towards Nico, who held a solemn look on his face. His dark eyes met Annabeth's. The shadows under his eyes were more pronounced. His posture was slack.

"She's dying," he mumbled. He looked down at his shoes. "I don't know if Apollo will be able to help her."

His words crashed down on Annabeth. She bit her lip and closed her eyes tight. She prayed and prayed to Apollo and anyone that was listening that he would _hurry his ass up_ so he could save his girlfriend.

As soon as she thought it, there was a slight flash of heat and suddenly Apollo was at her side, pushing Annabeth's hands away. She moved to the side so he could have better access to Thalia's wound.

"Well, jeez, it's about time you got here!" Annabeth accused, more from fear than anger.

Apollo felt irritation flare through him. "Right, because since I'm a god, I can take care of monsters in a snap." He glanced down at Thalia's wound. "What the hell happened?"

"The basilisk snagged her when it first attacked us," Annabeth answered stiffly.

It may not have seemed like it, but extreme fear was coursing through Apollo's body. Basilisk poison was no laughing matter, and from one look at Thalia's body, Apollo could tell it had already started spreading. His hands were shaking as he lifted the bandage. He forced himself into autopilot, working as if she was just another demigod in need of healing.

He immediately noticed the slight stench of alcohol and glanced towards the open bottle of Jack Daniels. The other two wouldn't have been able to tell, but the healthy cells around the wound had been damaged because of it.

"Well I may as well use my rusty needle and fishing line to close this up," he pointed out scathingly and harsh as his hands began glowing softly over the wound with his healing power.

Barely contained fury spread throughout Annabeth. She wanted to chew him out and kick him into next week, but seeing as she couldn't and her fear for Thalia outweighed her anger, Annabeth settled for glaring coldly at him. "We did the best with what we had," she ground out.

Apollo felt her glare and sighed. "I'm sorry. I know. I'm just—"

His voice cracked. He couldn't finish, and he didn't need to. Annabeth knew what it was like, thinking that your significant other was on the verge of death. She couldn't blame him for his harsh attitude, no matter how much it annoyed her.

She glanced over to Nico. He shook his head. "It's helping," he mumbled, "but it will take a while. The poison is still fighting to stay in her system."

Apollo already knew that. He could tell from his healing abilities. What he didn't know was— "Is she going to _live?_" he asked, voice breaking.

Nico answered honestly. "I don't know."

* * *

The train had stopped, of course, as soon as the basilisk had hit. Crewmembers of the train were going from car to car, inspecting the damage and making sure everyone was okay. Annabeth and Nico scrambled to clean up the mess of bloodied bandages while Apollo did his best to keep Thalia's wound covered. Eventually a crew member had poked his head into their car, asked about Thalia ("Oh, you know…" Apollo covered smoothly. "Motion sickness. Snuck her a couple of _relaxers_—" he pointed to the Jack Daniels "—and she passed out. Nothing serious. She'll be up in a few hours."), and informed them that another train was coming to get them.

Eventually the train came, and a few hours later the four arrived in Chicago. Thalia still hadn't woken up, which could have been either a good or bad sign. They had originally planned on setting up camp, but with Thalia's injury, they didn't want to risk further infection. Apollo snagged them a room at a nearby hotel and soon, Thalia was resting in bed while Annabeth sent an Iris-message to Percy and Nico scavenged for food.

Apollo snuck outside the back door of the hotel. A single spotlight lit a bench underneath it along with a portion of the sidewalk. The sun god trudged over and collapsed on the bench, emotionally exhausted from the day's events. He noticed a streak of Thalia's blood on his jeans from when she began hemorrhaging.

A lump formed in Apollo's throat. It had taken all of his self-control not to break down in front of Annabeth and Nico on the train. He had had to force all his feelings, all his emotions to the back of his mind. He loved Thalia, more than anything. But watching her die in his arms, knowing her life was literally in his hands…

Apollo gripped his hair tight, leaning over. Tears stung his eyes and a swell of guilt ripped through him. It seemed like no matter what Apollo did, Thalia always ended up hurt. Being with him put her life in even more danger than it already was. He loved her _so much_, but was being with her the wrong thing? If staying with him meant her life would end…well, then, Apollo would stay far away.

He felt empty with this realization. A part of him was screaming that he was an idiot for even considering leaving her, but another part saw the logic in it. After the incident with Meliboea, he should have left. He should have hightailed it out and he could have saved her from this whole business. Hell, he could have saved Percy and the camp from ever dealing with the Kraken!

He was selfish. He was thoughtless, careless. He never thought that these people from his past would show up and use her as bait to get to him. He should have known, should have seen it. He was a prophet, for gods' sake! And yet, he had pulled her into his world, had introduced her to a whole new level of pain.

He was sadistic. He must have been, otherwise he would have left already.

Apollo sighed. When everything with Cephissus was said and done, he knew what he had to do.

The sun god had remained underneath the spotlight for a good ten minutes, trying to come to terms with his decision. However, he only became increasingly agitated and torn with himself, so he decided to head back up to check on Thalia. He opened the door to the hotel building, but when he stepped through, he found himself in a completely different room.

He found himself in his father's mansion on Mt. Olympus.

Apollo froze in his footsteps, glancing around the large, extravagant room. A fireplace was located below a large painting of Zeus, an eagle perched on his shoulder as he held his master lightning bolt.

Apollo raised a brow at the picture. _Classy_.

He stepped farther into the room, noticing the high ceiling and expensive rugs. Leather furniture dotted the room and one side of the wall contained high bookshelves that held various valuable objects his father had collected over the centuries. There was a small fire in the fireplace, and outside thunder cracked and lightning lit up the sky.

"Hello, son," a booming, deep voice announced.

Apollo turned around and came face to face with his father. "Hello, Dad. Any particular reason I'm here?"

Zeus gave him a calculated look. "I thought that would have been obvious," he declared. Despite the late hour, Zeus was dressed in his usual pinstripe suit, his thick hair combed and his beard neatly trimmed. He stepped towards a small table that contained glasses and an assortment of liquor. He poured himself a drink and took a sip, staring at Apollo, scrutinizing.

Apollo cocked his head. "Not particularly." He furiously thought back through the previous months, trying to remember if he had done anything spectacularly stupid that warranted a lecture from Zeus. Nothing came to mind.

Zeus looked annoyed. "This little trip your on with the demigods…to chain Cephissus back to the Underworld, right?"

"Yeah…"

"You upset the balance."

Apollo felt anger heat through him. "I was challenged by Cephissus. I have every right to be on this quest—"

"And because of that, Thalia is dying," Zeus over spoke, acting as if Apollo hadn't opened his mouth.

A stab of pain struck Apollo. He knew his father was right. It _was _his fault that Thalia was hurt. But he didn't need to hear it confirmed by his dad.

Apollo glared at his father. "And since when have you ever cared about her? You didn't seem to care when you turned her into a tree! Or when she returned and became a Hunter!"

"Do not test my patience, boy," Zeus bellowed, literally growing in height. His forms flickered between the pinstripe CEO and his ten-foot tall Greek persona. "I have always cared about Thalia. Now more than ever since she's taken an interest in you." He snarled. "Her _half-brother_!"

Apollo winced. Of course he had realized long ago that they were half-siblings, but honestly, when it came down to genes, there wasn't much in common between them. Being a god, Apollo's DNA was more his own than a combination of two people. It was difficult to fully explain, but what mattered is that ultimately, their DNA held little say in their relationship.

He clenched his teeth. "This was her choice. I didn't force her into anything."

Zeus grimaced. "I know. Which is why after Thalia is healed and functioning, you are abandoning this quest, and you will end things with Thalia."

Apollo gave his father an incredulous look. When Zeus's words finally sunk in, fury flashed through him, pooling in his stomach. Of course, he had just made a similar decision not long ago, but honestly, what right did his father have to say this?!

Apollo glared at him. "You cannot just push me around like a little child! I am a _god_. You can't—"

"And I am the king of gods!" Zeus interrupted, bellowing. "You will obey my orders!"

"Or what?" Apollo snarked back unwisely.

Zeus looked about ready to strike him down with some lightning. He had already grown about five more feet, almost reaching his full height before he would explode into his godly form. Yet, amazingly, he held back his rage and instead informed him, "I will cut your powers off until you return to Mt. Olympus and stop fooling around like a lovesick teenager."

He didn't show it, but Zeus's words struck Apollo hard. Well yeah, he didn't want his powers taken away (he didn't even know his dad could do that!), but to call him a lovesick teenager? That hurt. His love for Thalia was serious. He had asked Thalia to marry him.

But maybe…maybe Zeus was right. Maybe this was just another fling in a long line of women. Besides, she would be better off without him—safe from his enemies. And if this is what it would take…

Apollo sighed, his face one of surrender. "Fine," he mumbled low.

He stared coldly at his father, who only nodded once. Zeus flicked his hand and the door opened, showing the view of the hotel. Apollo was just in front of the door when Zeus said, "It's for the best, son."

Apollo could only hope so.

* * *

**The drama continues! Let me know how I did with writing Zeus...I tried to make him gruff and straight-to-the-point. Thank you for reading! As always, review please!**

**-Akatsuki Child**


	10. On the Brink

**Enjoy! Disclaimer: All Percy Jackson characters belong to Rick Riordan!**

* * *

**On the Brink**

Extreme pain.

That's all Thalia felt when the basilisk's poison began creeping through her system. She had been able to momentarily fend off its attacks, and she vaguely remembered Apollo jumping through the trashed roof to lead the monster away from them. Watching him leave, her vision became blurry and tunnel vision edged its way into sight.

The last thing she remembered was trying to stand on her feet but failing and collapsing onto Annabeth. Then she blacked out.

_It was a spring day, early in the season when there were still patches of snow trying to cling to the remnants of winter. It was a pleasant seventy degrees outside—a little chilly when the wind blew, but otherwise perfect weather. _

_Thalia was at the archery range with some Apollo kids, practicing her skills with the indestructible bow Apollo had given her for Christmas. She was getting better everyday. Even the Apollo kids, who had finally accepted her relationship with their dad, noticed her improvement. _

_Thalia notched a bow, pulling back and feeling the strength of her muscles in her shoulders and back. She breathed in deep, held it for two seconds, and slowly exhaled. At the apex of her exhalation she released the string. The arrow spliced the air and struck the target two inches left of the bull's eye. _

"_Nice shot," a deep voice praised. _

_Thalia felt a smile lift her face as she glanced over at Apollo. "Thanks."  
_

_He smirked. "Of course, it's still not perfect." He stepped close to her, standing behind her. He mimicked her stance, molding his body around hers. Thalia's heart lurched in her chest. _

"_It's all about your form," he mumbled into her ear. He ran his hands down her arms. He took a bow from the quiver beside them and placed it in her hand. He covered her hands with his own and then led her arms into notching the arrow. _

_Thalia's stomach flip-flopped. _

_Of course, Apollo knew exactly what he was doing to her. He smirked. "Even the slightest movement makes a difference." He placed a large hand on her flat stomach and the other on her shoulder. As she inhaled, so did he, feeling her muscles stretch underneath his touch. She exhaled, and then he mumbled, "Release."_

_The arrow flew and struck right in the center. _

Searing pain ripped through her stomach. Blue eyes flittered open and stared at the damaged car ceiling. She vaguely heard Annabeth arguing with Nico. It smelled like alcohol. The stench burned her nose. But her stomach was burning too, crawling up her insides and scratching its way up her throat. She cried out. The darkness swallowed her once again.

_Running. They were always running. _

_Sirens were blaring a couple streets down. Thalia's legs ached and her lungs shrieked for air. Each step against the hard pavement caused a flash of pain to erupt in her ribs. She had taken quite a pummeling before finally killing the damned monster. _

_Despite the pain, Thalia continued following Luke's tall, lean form through the streets. They had stuck together this far. They could survive. Somehow, they would make it. _

_Suddenly Luke took a sharp left, leading into a deserted building. Thalia struggled to make the unexpected turn, but Luke reached out and snatched Thalia's wrist. He tugged her down next to him. Thalia winced and bit her lip from the jarring of her ribs. _

_The cops were definitely not the most dangerous threat, but if they were caught, they'd have a lot of explaining to do and she knew no one would believe them. Best if they simply avoided the authorities. _

_They were both breathing hard. Luke had his arm around Thalia, holding her close. They listened as the sirens got closer, became more shrill—and then they whizzed by, growing faint until they completely disappeared. _

_They had survived one more night. _

Unexpectedly, warmth began seeping through Thalia. She wasn't fully conscious, but she felt it there. It felt like the sun on a warm, summer day, as if she had just finished swimming and was now lying on the beach, basking in the rays.

It seemed to mix with the poison. Every so often she would feel peaceful, and then suddenly a stabbing pain would appear in her stomach.

Was she supposed to die? Was she supposed to live? Was this feeling just a side affect of the poison? Some sick, false impression of hope to make her believe she would be okay?

Honestly, she didn't care anymore. She didn't want this confliction. She didn't care if she died. It's not like her life had been anything particularly special—

Thalia opened her eyes. She glanced around to get her bearings but came up short. She had no clue where she was. In fact, she doubted this was even real. Her body…she felt no pain. She felt weightless, even, as if gravity had no affect on her. All she saw was bright light, heat shimmering around her.

Maybe she died. Maybe this was her afterlife. Odd, since she should have ended up in the Underworld…

"You're not dead," a voice chimed in, as if reading her thoughts. "At least, not yet."

Thalia glanced beside her. She vaguely recognized the voice, and her suspicions were confirmed when she spotted Bianca di Angelo standing next to her, dressed in Hunter regalia.

"Bianca," she breathed. "How—"

"You're dying," Bianca replied without falter. "I felt your presence on the brink between life and death. I thought I'd come pay you a visit." She shrugged. "You seem to be conflicted."

Thalia's brow furrowed. "_Yeah,_ I'm conflicted. What the hell happened?"

Bianca gave her a pitying look. "You don't remember?"

Thalia thought hard, trying to remember the events that had brought her here. "I…remember a—a monster. The basilisk. And it—"

Realization hit her. "Oh," she said weakly. Bianca nodded her head in confirmation. Thalia's heart dropped. "So…this is it, then." It wasn't a question.

Bianca tilted her head. "Not necessarily. You felt something _good_, didn't you? Something—"

"Warm," Thalia filled in.

The daughter of Hades smiled. "Yes. Warmth."

"What is it?"

"Someone is healing you. Someone very strong."

Thalia felt butterflies in her stomach. It had to have been Apollo. Of course he would save her. "But…shouldn't I have died? Or be dying? How can I still be alive?"

"Well, for one thing, my brother and Annabeth were able to keep you alive until Apollo arrived back at the train. As for the conflicting feelings…well, that's up to you."

"What do you mean? _What's_ up to me?"

Bianca gave her a pointed stare. "Whether you live or die. At this point, you could easily succumb to the poison and let yourself drift off to the next world. Or you could just as easily fight back with Apollo's help."

Thalia's brow furrowed. Of course she wanted to live. She wanted to be with Apollo.

But on the other hand…She had lived a full life. She had fought many battles, survived impossible circumstances. She had experienced so much in her lifespan. Honestly…she was getting tired of it. Would people really blame her for wanting to move on?

"He really cares about you," Bianca said quietly.

Thalia didn't need her to explain. She knew Apollo loved her. And she loved him just as much—even more. He was her life. He had shown her love—_real_ love. She thought back through the past six months, realizing how much her life has changed since she met Apollo at Artemis's camp. She had undergone a lot of hurt, guilt, pain. But she had experienced love, peacefulness. _Happiness. _She would never give up any of it.

How could she ever believe she could live without him?

Her mind was set.

Bianca smiled warmly. "Good luck."

* * *

**Let me know what you guys think of this one. I was going for a hazy, flashback, brink-of-death tone, and hopefully I did Bianca some justice!**

**Thanks for reading and remember to review!**

**-Akatsuki Child**


	11. Waking Up

**This chapter is a bit short but we finally get some more ApolloThalia fluff! Yay!**

**Enjoy! Disclaimer: Percy Jackson belongs to Rick Riordan!**

* * *

**Waking Up**

Thalia groaned. She felt hot and sticky, like she'd been sitting outside on a humid day. Her stomach hurt like hell, it felt like there were a ton of bricks in her head…Overall, she felt like a dracaena had bashed her against a cement wall for five hours.

But she was alive.

She tried to take in a breath but felt something catch in her chest and began coughing—hacking and heaving. She felt a warm hand behind her back, helping her into a sitting position. She finally coughed up the crap in her chest, revealing a green-gray goo tainted with blood. She grimaced, looking up at Apollo.

She felt herself breaking apart. He was a wreck. His hair was disheveled, his eyes bloodshot. His face was solemn but relief was plain in his eyes.

"Thalia," he breathed, running his hand down her back. "Thank gods you're okay."

Thalia took a slow breath, wincing from the pain in her stomach. "W-what happened?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Apollo helped ease her back so she was lying down once again. He ran a hand over her forehead, pushing her hair back. "The basilisk attacked the train. It snagged you before I was able to lead it away and kill it. We had to take a different train and now we're in Chicago." Apollo sighed in relief. "I'm just so glad you're okay. I thought—"

He faltered, choking on his words. He couldn't speak them. He didn't want to think about it.

Thalia recognized his fear-stricken expression. She placed a comforting hand over his. "It's okay," she reassured. "I'm here. I'm okay."

But even with her words, he couldn't look up into her eyes. His fears had been momentarily subdued, but he was afraid that if he looked into her eyes at that moment, she would see the guilt brewing—the guilt of the decision he would eventually fulfill.

Instead, he leaned down, placing his forehead on hers. "I was so scared," he mumbled.

Thalia's heart sped up with his touch. She brought her free hand up to tangle in his golden hair. She pressed her lips against his warm ones, reveling in the feeling. She poured all her emotion into that kiss, all her feelings and love for him.

Ever since Apollo had asked her to marry him, she had been trying to convince others—and herself—that the reason she hadn't accepted was because of her fears that he would forget about her, cheat on her, leave her, etc. And while they were warranted fears, they weren't the sole cause of her distress.

She didn't trust herself. It was the thing that always held her back. It's not that she thought she would cheat on Apollo or anything like that—she could never do that. But honestly, she didn't trust her own judgment. She loved him, more than anyone and anything in the world. But she had made stupid, split-second decisions in the past, decisions that had cost her dearly. She didn't want to make the same mistake, and she certainly didn't want to hurt Apollo in the process and ruin any chance she had at happiness.

She wanted to be with him. She wanted to spend her life with him. But she needed to make sure this was the real deal. That it wasn't some spontaneous idea from Apollo. She wouldn't be able to bear it if he broke her heart.

The two star-crossed lovers broke apart from their kiss, breathing heavily. Thalia's chest screamed out with every breath, but she didn't care. She was alive, here with Apollo.

"I'm sorry," she suddenly spoke.

Apollo was shocked at her apology. "For what? What do you have to be sorry for?"

"I've been such a brat about _everything_," she confessed. "I haven't been fair to you—you know, about your proposal…" She felt him stiffen, avoiding her eyes. She grasped his hand tight. "And I'm not accepting or denying it at this point, but I _am _going to take it more seriously. And I'm sorry about everything with Percy and Camp and this whole mess with Cephissus—"

"Don't you dare apologize for that," Apollo interrupted, his eyes flashing with anger. Thalia blinked, surprised by his reaction. "You have every right to be angry with me. You _should_ be upset! You should be pissed that I brought you into this mess! That I'm constantly putting your life in danger!"

When Apollo finished his rant, he wouldn't look her in the eyes. He kept darting them from their interlocked hands to the bed comforter to the alarm clock on the table. Thalia's brow furrowed. Something was up with him. He seemed on edge—anxious. Guilty, even.

She narrowed her eyes. In her weak voice she asked, "Is something wrong?"

Apollo ran a hand over his face. He wrapped his arm across her chest, running his hand down her shoulder. "No. I'm sorry. I'm just tired. I…I didn't think you were going to live," he answered honestly, quietly.

At his confession, Thalia felt her heart go out to him. She couldn't believe she had contemplated staying with Bianca (and yes, she remembered everything—but she didn't think Apollo needed to know about that). She needed him.

"Will you lie down with me?" she asked, scooting over in the bed. Apollo only smiled, feeling his heart warm and yearn for her. He carefully slid into bed beside her, holding her close but being mindful of her injury. Thalia closed her eyes, sighing in content. She buried her face into his side.

"I love you, Apollo," she mumbled. "No matter what happens, I will always care for you."

Even if Apollo had replied, she wouldn't have heard it, for she had instantly fallen asleep.

* * *

**Like I said, it was a bit shorter than normal, but it's necessary to the story. **

**Thanks for reading and review please!**

**-Akatsuki Child**


	12. Nico's Suspicions

**Enjoy! Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or any of the characters! They belong to Rick Riordan!**

* * *

**Nico's Suspicions**

As soon as Thalia awoke once again, the other two demigods and the god gathered around Thalia's bed and began discussing their next move.

"We should take it easy these next couple days," Apollo advised. "I will continue healing Thalia's wounds but it will be a few days before they are completely healed."

Thalia grimaced. Of course she would be the one to slow them down.

Annabeth noticed her look and quickly backed Apollo's suggestion. "You're right. And besides, we need to start thinking of a plan to chain Cephissus. It's going to be very difficult. Any ideas, Nico?"

The boy in question had been staring at Thalia intently and didn't hear most of the conversation. Something about her was…off. Earlier he thought he had sensed…but no. That was impossible. She was gone, and Hades wouldn't have allowed her to…

Thalia noticed his strange stare. It was unnerving. She raised her brows. "What's your problem?"

Nico frowned. He looked away. "Nothing. Anyways, what were you guys saying?"

Annabeth glanced at Thalia, who shrugged her shoulders. Annabeth said, "How do we even begin to think about chaining Cephissus?"

Nico thought about it. "Well, we'll definitely need my father's help. I can try and convince him, but it'll be difficult."

"If Nico and I help Hades, we should be able to chain him down good and tight," Apollo interjected. "And hopefully he won't escape this time."

"How did it even happen the first time?" Thalia questioned.

Apollo shook his head. "I honestly have no idea."

"It could've been a ghost," Nico added, "doing someone's dirty work. I'll shadow travel downstairs and start talking to Dad. While I'm down there, I'll ask around and see if anyone knows anything."

Annabeth nodded. She looked towards Apollo. "You know the binding spell, right?"

At her question, Apollo cleared his throat uncomfortably, scratching the back of his neck. "Uh, most of it."

"'_Most of it?'_"

"Well, the first time around it was mostly Poseidon doing the binding while I fought and held him down. I was a little busy and I figured a one-time-binding was all I would need."

Annabeth's eye twitched. _Since when does anything work the first time? _she thought scathingly. "All right. I guess we need to find a binding spell then," she announced, sending a glare Apollo's way.

Apollo held up his hand. "Actually, I know where we can get one," he replied. "So no need for the dirty looks."

"And where would that be?" Thalia asked.

"Right here in Chicago. There's an institution not far from here. I know of a demigod who memorized hundreds, probably even thousands of Hecate's spells. He'll know of one."

Thalia wasn't quite sure what he meant by institution, but he sounded confident in this approach and she trusted his judgment. "Well, all right, then. Nico will head down to the Underworld and we'll go to this institution and get ourselves a binding spell."

Nico knew she was trying to sound upbeat and positive, but with her voice weak and her eyes drooping as if she was going to pass out, she didn't sound very convincing. Annabeth didn't seem too pleased, either. She stalked out of the room with a vague mention of an Iris-message to Percy.

"I, uh…need to go get some supplies for your wound," Apollo suddenly spoke, stepping away from Thalia's bed. Thalia gave him a strange look, and even Nico was confused. He was a god. A god of medicine. He could make those things appear just by thinking about them.

"Um. Okay…" Thalia trailed off. Apollo leaned down and kissed her forehead. He left through the door without any more explanation.

Nico stood there awkwardly, watching Thalia's brows furrow in confusion. He felt weird just standing there, so he turned to walk out and give her some privacy. He took three steps before stopping.

There was that feeling again. It was different from the usual unfriendly, goose bumps-inducing chill that he felt whenever a ghost was around. No, this feeling was warm and inviting, a sort of glow and light surrounding it.

He could recognize it anywhere.

He turned back around, facing Thalia. Just as he did it, he saw a wispy glow disperse into air. He frowned.

"Nico?" Thalia asked, seeing the disturbed look on his face. "What's wrong?"

He stared back at Thalia, suspicion on his face. "It's just that…well, I still sense death around you. But you clearly aren't dying. Your soul is fine now…I guess I'm just confused."

Thalia bit her lip. Yeah, she had talked to Bianca, but that was when she had been on the brink of death. She didn't fully understand how these things worked, but she was pretty sure that Bianca's spirit wouldn't have been able to cross into the living world.

"Huh," Thalia replied. "Weird."

Nico narrowed his eyes. "Did you talk to Bianca?" he asked bluntly. He had seen the look on Thalia's face. She was hiding something, and Nico could put two and two together.

Thalia scowled. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Thalia. That's Bianca's spirit hanging around you, and she doesn't do that for any old shmuck. So why is she here with you?"

Thalia stared hard at him for a moment, weighing the chances of her lying to him and getting away with it. Seeing that her chances were slim, she sighed in defeat, running a hand through her hair.

"Fine. Yeah, I talked to her."

Nico frowned. "About what?"

Thalia grimaced. "Death. Whether or not to pass on into the next life. Honestly, Nico, I have no idea why she's still hanging around."

Her words only caused him to become more confused, but then the realization of her words hit him. "Wait—you seriously considered passing on? And leaving your friends—" his voice became incredulous, his face flushed with anger "—behind to deal with this mess?"

Thalia glared at him. "Maybe I did. So what, Nico. Maybe I'm tired of all this. I may not look it but I'm actually in my twenties, and trust me, I've been through a hell of a lot already." Thalia stopped. The strain on her body was becoming unbearable. She was in a world of hurt from the poison, but she fought against the pain. "It seemed easier to just let go than to continue on. But I'm here, aren't I?"

She said it almost bitterly, but Nico mildly wondered if it was just from the pain she was experiencing. Still, despite her arguments—and Nico knew they were reasonable—he couldn't help but feel furious. And it wasn't just towards Thalia.

Nico was enraged with every demigod that chose death over life. Bianca hadn't had the choice. She had been thrown into the demigod world and had sacrificed herself. She didn't get to choose between life and death. Why was it fair that others could?

Maybe he was childish for thinking that way, but it was how he felt. Out of all the injustices that would be placed upon him during his life, that was the one injustice he would never forgive.

He bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from saying something incredibly rude. Instead, he turned back towards the door and stalked out. He spotted Annabeth at the end of the hall, shoving some quarters into a snack machine. There was a look of annoyance on her face as she punched in a code and a bag of Oreos fell from within. Nico's brows furrowed as he made his way to her.

"What's your problem?" he asked.

Annabeth scowled. "Percy isn't answering my Iris-messages."

Huh, well that was strange. It seemed like they always talked for hours. "I'm sure he's okay."

Annabeth froze in opening the Oreos. "Why do you say that? Do you think he's in trouble?!"

"No! Of course not!" Nico quickly answered. "I mean he's probably busy, or—maybe he's sleeping." He rubbed his temple, feeling the dull throb of a headache. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm heading to the Underworld. I'll start convincing my dad to help while you guys figure things out top-side."

Annabeth nodded absently, but Nico could tell that she was trying to convince herself that Percy was okay while simultaneously imagining all the horrible things that could be happening (which half of them, of course, were impossible). He rolled his eyes and, spotting a shadow by the doorway, shadow travelled to the Underworld.

* * *

**All right! Got a little insight from Nico's point of view. We may not be seeing much of him from now until the ending. But why isn't Percy answering Annabeth's Iris-messages? Hmm...**

**Thanks for reading and PLEASE REVIEW and let me know how I'm doing!**

**-Akatsuki Child**


	13. Stalling

**Thank you to everyone who has reviewed! (I want to give a special shout out to Lara D and ILove2Write13, who have always been so wonderful to me!) I really appreciate all the support!**

**Enjoy! Disclaimer: All Percy Jackson characters belong to Rick Riordan!**

* * *

**Stalling**

Apollo shuffled down to the convenience store at the end of the block. Of course, he didn't need to get any supplies like he had told the others, and he realized that they knew he was lying. But he couldn't just sit there in the room with her, knowing that in a couple short days, he was going to break Thalia's heart.

He was at war with himself, really. It had been easy to say he would leave when she had been unconscious. But when she opened her electric blue eyes and started apologizing, as if _she _had been the one to bring about this mess, he had lost his nerve. He needed her to see that all of this was his fault. _He_ was in the wrong.

And then she was confessing her love to him, and he felt his plans crumble even farther. He began to doubt his plans and his father's threats. And really, it was their life. They didn't need to listen to anyone! So he had lay with her as she dozed off, nestling against his body. It felt good to feel her warm touch again. He hadn't realized how much he missed it.

But after a couple hours, when he started thinking again, he became conscious of the fact that he had been the one to cause her all this pain and hurt. He had made her feel as if _she_ had caused this. And then he underwent the same thought process he had undergone the day before and came to the same conclusion: he needed to leave her, for her own benefit, even though it would kill him inside.

So now here he was. Browsing through a convenience store, looking for medical supplies that he could have made appear from nothing, devastating Thalia's heart and crushing his soul—all just to ease the upcoming break.

He strolled through with a store basket in hand. He picked up some gauze, hydrogen peroxide, and some wraps to bandage up Thalia's stomach. He headed over to the grocery section and grabbed some fruits and granola bars to help build up her strength again.

A part of him wanted to slow down her healing process so he could spend a few more days with her, but then he remembered that not only would she be in pain longer, but it would give Cephissus more time to build up his forces and destroy their group, and they needed to chain him down as soon as possible. Besides, it was cruel and selfish of him. He felt guilty for even thinking of it.

Hopefully Nico would be able to convince Hades to help. But knowing the Underworld god, it would not be an easy feat. He was the key to keeping Cephissus locked up for a good couple thousand years (hopefully more). But Apollo knew firsthand that getting Hades to do anything that didn't give him any specific benefits would be next to impossible.

Apollo grimaced as he went through checkouts. If he were being totally honest with himself, he would admit that this trip was merely his way of avoiding Thalia. He found it extremely hard to be around her and not feel the crushing weight of guilt upon him. He knew he needed to enjoy what little time he had left with her, but that was easier said than done.

"Twenty-five dollars and eighty-two cents," the clerk announced.

Apollo, still stuck in his thoughts, barely noticed as he pulled out a hundred-dollar bill from his jean's pocket and handed it to her, saying, "Keep the change."

The girl, astonished, stood there with the crisp bill in her hand. She just stared in incredulity as Apollo stalked out of the store, his thoughts still lingering on the girl in the hotel.

* * *

After Nico's departure, Thalia had passed out from the pain from her stomach and her depleting strength. She tried not to think about her little argument with Nico, but she was a little annoyed with his anger. He didn't have any right to be mad at her. She had explained her reasons, which were true, and that was more than he deserved.

Still, she may have felt a little guilty about the whole thing.

A couple minutes after waking up, Apollo stepped through the door, a larger bag and a smaller bag in his hands. Immediately the smell of a cheeseburger filled the air.

She struggled to sit up, biting her lip against the pain. "Hey," she greeted him.

Apollo gave her a smile, but something about it was off. It didn't quite reach his eyes, and she felt a pull in her gut that had nothing to do with her injury.

The sun god held up the large bag. "I got you some health food—" then he held up the smaller bag "—and some comfort food."

It probably wasn't wise to give her a cheeseburger with her injury, but Apollo wanted to cheer her up. And besides, it was his feeble way of apologizing—for all the pain he had caused her, all the pain he _would_ cause her...

Thalia grinned, despite herself. "I love you," she said simply. Apollo laughed and watched as she dug into the burger, obviously content.

"How's the injury?" he asked, setting his supplies down.

She shrugged. "Still hurts, but not as bad."

He nodded. "Good. I'll do some healing on it and then hopefully you'll be able to walk around a little bit. We need to head over to the Institution tonight."

Thalia swallowed her bite. "Speaking of which…what exactly is the Institution?"

"Basically, it's like a demigod hospital. But it's also like an asylum of sorts. A lot of children of Hecate work there, and some of my children as well." He said this last part with apprehension. He was a little reluctant to mention his children around Thalia—not because he didn't care about them, but it was a bit awkward talking about your—many—children to your girlfriend, when most of them were older than her. "They do experiments, care for patients—usually only the major stuff like diseases, curses, mental illnesses. Some demigods that make it into their elderly ages choose to stay there, too."

"Like a retirement home," Thalia added.

Apollo nodded. "A little bit. And kind of like a research center. It's like a bunch of businesses jammed into one big building, made, run, and built for demigods, by demigods."

Thalia let that sink in. She had never heard of it before—Chiron had never mentioned it. "How come we've never heard of it?"

He shrugged. "Not a lot of demigods need to go there, and—sadly—there aren't a lot of demigods that live long enough to even think about a career."

By this time, Thalia had finished her cheeseburger, and Apollo was steadily working on her injury, his hands warm and comforting as his healing power seeped through her stomach. She could feel the effects immediately. The pain slowly edged away until it was a dull throb, and when Apollo lifted her shirt, there were two jagged, pink lines where the basilisk's fangs had snagged her.

Apollo sat back. Standing up, he placed his hand on Thalia's back, grabbing her hand to help her ease up out of bed. "That should hold you over for tonight, and you should be able to walk around a bit. It should only take a few more days to completely heal."

He refused to think about what else he'd have to do in a couple days, pushing the offending thoughts to the back of his mind.

Thalia grasped his warm hand thankfully and tentatively moved her legs. There was a small sting of pain, but it was nothing compared to what she had been feeling earlier.

"So why can't you just heal it all at once?" Thalia asked. She slowly stood up on her feet, testing her limits. Apollo hovered over her, his hands inches from her waist.

His face twisted into a grimace. "It would burn you up."

She frowned. "Oh," she said weakly. "Look—thank you, Apollo. For everything. I know it hasn't been easy with—well, anything, this past week."

She stared up at him with her stunning blue eyes, trying to convey to him that she needed him in her life. She remembered the look he had given her earlier, like it was the last time he would see her.

She didn't like that.

Apollo had to bite down on his tongue. He hadn't expected her words, and it only made his guilt heavier. He could feel his will breaking down, his heart tearing apart. But he needed to keep his plans. Still, he couldn't help himself from wrapping her up in his strong arms and planting a passionate kiss on her lips.

Thalia felt her knees grow weak (that definitely had nothing to do with her injury). She felt her heart leap at his arms around her. She grabbed his face, his stubble tickling her palms, and held him to her, refusing to let him leave.

She didn't know why he was acting the way he was. The way he held her, in this moment, made him seem frantic and desperate, like these were their last moments together. It scared her and made her nervous.

Reluctantly, Apollo pulled away from her. He placed his forehead on hers but moved his hands up to her shoulders. He wanted so badly to stay in this moment, but they needed to keep moving to make it to the Institution.

"We should find Annabeth," Apollo muttered, finally stepping away from her. Thalia felt the rush of cool air around her skin where his warm body had been. She bit back her disappointment—her fears—and nodded minutely.

She watched as he gave her one last fleeting glance before stepping out the door, into the hallway. She had to ease herself down onto the bed as the gravity of the moment finally crashed down on her. Something was terribly wrong with him.

She just couldn't comprehend it. What was going on?

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**Thanks for reading! Please review and let me know how I'm doing!**

**-Akatsuki Child**


	14. The Institution

**Thanks to everyone that reviewed! I'm sorry if this chapter contains some errors. I probably won't get much chance to write this week, so I wanted to get this published tonight. I wasn't able to comb through it completely for errors, especially at the end. Let me know if you see anything!**

**Enjoy! Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson!**

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**The Institution**

When they finally found Annabeth (sitting in the lobby, her knees drawn to her chest, a distraught look on her face from the lack of Iris-messages from Percy), Apollo used his godly magic to transport them to the Institute.

Annabeth blinked at the shack-like building before them. "Um. That's it?" she asked, unimpressed.

Thalia understood at once what was happening. She could feel the power of the Mist working here. To her, it felt like the humidity of New York summers, or the few times she'd been to Florida.

Apollo waved his hand, and immediately the veil of the Mist was lifted.

It looked like an abandoned warehouse, and the night sky and streetlamps set an eerie tone about it. Some of the windows had tarp nailed over them. A few bricks had fallen off the building, and it looked like something large had crashed into the corner near the roof. One of the side doors was boarded up, and a sickly looking dog chewed on a bone near the front steps.

"This doesn't seem very…safe," Annabeth finished weakly. She was still a bit upset about the whole thing with Percy, but she was also miffed that she hadn't heard of this place. She figured that maybe, being a daughter of wisdom, her mother or Chiron or _someone_ would have mentioned this place. But maybe it was like Daedalus' laptop—forgotten, bordering the edge of urban legend.

Apollo smiled. "It's just the exterior. Keeps them safe from unwanted guests. Just wait until you see the inside."

Annabeth grumbled. "Well, then. What are we waiting for?"

As they approached the dilapidated building, the sick-looking dog lifted his head. He stared at them, sniffing the air. After a few seconds, it howled and stood on its feet. It started limping down the sidewalk in front of the building. When it got to the corner, it stopped, looking back at them.

"What—" Thalia started, but then Apollo interrupted her.

"He wants us to follow him. He'll take us to the entrance."

The group followed the dog. It stopped under the streetlight, and when Annabeth happened to glance towards the light, she saw its shadow. Only it wasn't the shadow of a dog. Its shadow was tall and thin and looked like a human man.

Annabeth stopped in her steps. "It's not a dog. It's a—"

"Cynanthrope," Apollo finished, pulling her along. "I know. He—and many others—works for Hecate. He guards the front door."

Thalia's brow furrowed as she struggled along with each painful footstep. "A cynan—what?"

They continued around the corner until the dog disappeared down a set of steps leading to a cellar.

"A cynanthrope," Apollo continued. "A human-dog shape shifter."

"Of course," Thalia muttered sarcastically. "Silly me."

Apollo ignored her. "Hecate created the first one by putting a curse on a sorcerer who had betrayed her. She really only used the curse as a punishment, but somehow it became a bloodline. I'm a little rusty on the story—it's been a while. It's rare, and only direct descendants of that sorcerer contain the—genes, so to speak."

They descended the stairs—Thalia held a death grip on Apollo in case she stumbled down—where the dog sat, waiting patiently. He tilted his head at Apollo and gave a high-pitched whine.

"Sure thing. Thank you for the help," Apollo replied to some unknown words.

The dog…human—whatever, bowed his head and then slunk back up the stairs, returning to his original post.

Thalia raised a brow, her breathing a bit shallow from the exertion of the stairs. "I'm guessing you come her frequently?"

Apollo shrugged, pulling the large door open. "I stop by when I can. Check on experiments, heal a couple people. They've been a bit under-staffed since the war."

He ushered Annabeth and Thalia inside, and Annabeth's jaw dropped. The ceiling was high, pristine and white. The floor of the lobby area was carpeted a soft blue, and in the middle of the room was a large reception desk. Two white couches lined opposite sides of the room and there was a table covered with demigod magazines (Annabeth's eye twitched when she saw a small article on a cover mentioning her name and Percy's in a magazine called, _Aphrodite Love_, written by—you guessed it—Aphrodite, exploiting "the hot gossip of this millennium's demigod couples").

Apollo approached the desk where a young woman with chocolate brown hair sat typing away at a computer. As he stepped up, the woman glanced up and smiled warmly. "Hello, sir. Anthony should be down any minute."

Apollo returned her smile. "Thanks, Liz."

Just then, the elevator door dinged open and out stepped a tall man with dark hair and green eyes—presumably Anthony. Thalia couldn't help but feel a weird twist in her stomach. She had been around plenty of Apollo's children at Camp, but she was older than most of them now. Anthony had to be in his late twenties, early thirties. It was strange.

Anthony stepped out with a blonde woman next to him. He gave a smile, scanning the small group. "Hey, Dad," he greeted.

Thalia glanced at said Dad, but Apollo had frozen in his stance. He was staring, not at Anthony, but at the blonde woman. Thalia instantly felt a flash of jealousy. She studied the woman before them. Her blonde hair flowed down to the middle of her back, and her eyes were mocha-brown. Her skin was unusually pale, but it only enhanced her beauty.

And with the way Apollo was staring at her…

Damn straight Thalia was jealous. And irritated.

Apollo could only stare. She looked exactly like…But that was impossible. _She _had died many, many years ago…

"Hey, son," he mumbled, still dazed as he glanced between Anthony and the woman. Thalia crossed her arms over her chest, narrowing her eyes at the woman.

"And you must be Thalia," Anthony smiled, holding his hand out.

Thalia barely noticed his remark, still glowering at Apollo. "Pleasure," she grumbled.

Anthony seemed put-off by her response, but Annabeth stepped in, holding her hand out. "Annabeth Chase. Nice to meet you."

He nodded, shaking her offered hand. "I figured. You and your boyfriend are pretty much celebrities in the demigod world." He turned back to Apollo. "What can I help you guys with today?"

Apollo—almost reluctantly—pulled his eyes away from the woman long enough to address his son. "We need to talk to Hector."

There was suddenly a large crash, as if someone had set off a small explosion. Anthony paid no attention to it, but it caused Annabeth and Thalia to jump in surprise.

"Well," Anthony continued uncomfortably, "I guess you could try. He still hasn't spoken to anyone, but I mean, if he's going to talk to anyone, it'll probably be you."

With that cryptic message, Anthony and the woman led them into the polished elevator. He hit the button for fifteen (Thalia felt her stomach jump—heights. Ugh.) and then gestured to his mysterious assistant.

"This is Myra, by the way," he introduced. "She just joined us a couple days ago and has been studying with me."

Thalia was still miffed with her, but she couldn't help feeling satisfied when she felt Apollo's warm hand slip into hers, grasping it tightly. Still, it couldn't help erase her irritation about this woman, and just why was Apollo freaking out over her?

"Hello, everyone," Myra announced, her voice like honey. Apollo stiffened beside Thalia. As the elevator doors pinged open, Myra turned to the group. "Remember: don't touch anything on the carts. Feel free to ask questions, but try to keep the chatter to a minimum while we pass through the rec area. The patients get a little nervous with new people, and it's hard to calm them down."

With that, Anthony and Myra led the group into the large room. Annabeth trailed behind Apollo and Thalia, taking in her surroundings.

There were probably twenty or so demigods in the room. A lot of them were old for demigods—late fifties, early sixties. A couple played chess in the corner, but then suddenly one of them swatted the board to the side and lunged over the table, grabbing at his partner. Annabeth quickly looked away as some workers pulled them apart. Strange.

Other patients milled around, lounging on recliners, eating lasagna off of pristine white plates. One man was engaged in building a fort made from the couch cushions. She snorted, smirking a bit as their group passed into a hallway, out of the rec room. She noticed the drawings and paintings that lined the hallway. Some of them had sketched, half-done cities. Others held drawings of monsters—some attacking buildings, some grotesque depictions. She also noticed one painting in particular of a satyr (that looked suspiciously like Grover) in what looked like Central Park.

Annabeth found the place to be interesting. She wished they could spend more time here, but maybe it was something she and Percy could check out sometime in the future. That is, if he ever answered her Iris-messages! Irritation filled her once again.

They stopped before a room. Anthony quietly opened the door, and they stepped inside. It was a standard hospital room. The man—Hector, she presumed—was sitting in the plastic visitor's chair, staring unseeingly at the TV (which was tuned in to some Mt. Olympus broadcast). He had thick black-gray hair and dark eyes. He looked to be in his late fifties.

"I'll, uh…leave you to it," Anthony muttered. "We'll be down the hall if you need anything."

Anthony must have had a lot of faith in his dad to leave him—and two strangers—alone with a patient. Nevertheless, he and Myra stepped out, closing the door behind them.

Apollo gave a little sigh of relief when Myra had left. She even sounded like…

He shook his head, dispelling the memories. "Thalia, Annabeth—this is Hector."

"Figured," Thalia bit back sarcastically. Apollo winced at her tone. She had obviously noticed his…discomfort around Myra.

"What did Anthony mean when he said he hasn't spoken to anyone?" Annabeth asked suspiciously.

Apollo shook his head. "Something happened to him. His mind snapped, I think, from all the spell knowledge. He knows a many of Hecate's spells. Maybe he learned something he wasn't supposed to."

"Maybe Hecate did this to him," Annabeth mused. The lights suddenly blinked—as if in irritation—and the TV cut out for a few seconds, going fuzzy with static, before returning to normal broadcasting.

"Be careful who you accuse," Apollo warned. "Hecate didn't like that. Hector's a child of hers. She's just as mystified."

"Speaking of being mystified…" Thalia muttered, glaring at him. "What's going on with you?"

Apollo bit his cheek. He kept his back towards her, laying a hand on Hector's head, using his godly powers to search for any health problems. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said, unconvincingly.

"Cut the bullshit, Apollo," Thalia demanded angrily. "You've been acting sketchy ever since we got here—ever since Anthony and Myra met us."

He heard her unspoken accusation—_ever since Myra joined us. _

Apollo shook his head. "It's nothing."

Thalia felt anger flare through her. "Apollo—"

"Look, I promise to explain later. Let's just do what we came here to do so we can keep moving."

Thalia snapped her mouth shut, glaring at Apollo's form. She couldn't argue his point. She was still irritated beyond belief, but he had a point. They needed to keep moving in order to avoid Cephissus' threats. The sooner they could get this spell, the better.

Apollo spoke low in Hector's ear. "Hector, if you can hear me, we need your help. We need a binding spell."

He pulled back and watched Hector's face for any sign of responsiveness. There was none. His breathing remained smooth and even. He kept staring at the TV, unseeing.

Apollo's brows furrowed. "Hector de Rosas, son of Hecate, speak to me." He laid his hand on Hector's forehead, sending a flash of healing power through him. Still, nothing happened. Apollo gave a frustrated growl. Couldn't something work out in their favor, just this once?

"I don't understand what's going on," Apollo grounded out. "I can't find anything that indicates an illness. And he's still not responding!"

Annabeth, who had been silent throughout the whole exchange, suddenly noticed something. "Um. Actually, I think he is…"

She pointed towards Hector's hand. His long, bony finger, which had previously been still, was tapping against his thigh. It tapped out the pattern twice before Annabeth realized. "It's Morse code!" she exclaimed.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash, a flash of light through the window blinds, and then the room shook momentarily. It started to smell like smoke.

"Uh, is that normal?" Thalia asked, worried.

Apollo shook his head. "No, it's not. Something must have happened." He turned to Annabeth. "Can you understand Morse code?"

Annabeth nodded. "I'll take care of this. You go check it out."

Apollo nodded. He turned to Thalia, concern in his eyes. "Stay here with Annabeth."

Thalia glared. "No way."

The god felt a flash of fear in him before it was replaced by agitation. He put his hands on her shoulders. "Thalia, please. You're in no shape to fight. I almost lost you once—I'm not going to chance it."

Thalia stared into his eyes. She didn't want to leave him again. She wanted to fight with him. But he was right. There was no way she'd be able to take anyone in a fight. There was another loud crash. The room shook and a burning smell filled the air.

"Fine," she conceded. She grabbed his shirt. "Please be careful."

Despite his fears for her and his anxiousness, he gave a crooked smile. "I'm a god. There's not much they can do to me."

That didn't make her feel any better. She grimaced at him, and he only leaned down, kissing her forehead. Without another word, he left the room, drawing a sword from thin air.

Thalia pulled out a small rod, which expanded into her electric spear. She stood by Annabeth, who was scribbling on a pad of paper.

"Do we have an answer yet?"

"No," Annabeth replied, her voice confused. "It's just a bunch of numbers—wait, there are some words now."

As she said this, something large flew into the window from the hallway, shattering the glass. Thalia took a protective stance, wincing slightly from the tug on her stomach. She watched as a creature that look something akin to a bear cub stood on its legs and growled and hissed viciously at Thalia. It was brown with a white stripe across its back, with four sharp claws on each paw. It had the horns of a ram and its eyes were pitch black. Its tail was flat and oval, like a platypus or a beaver.

It was U-G-L-Y.

It swiped at Thalia, but she swatted it with her electric spear. It snarled and retreated a few feet, circling around her. It knocked over a chair, crushing it beneath its weight. It growled and screeched at her, trying to find an opening. Thalia followed it, eyes narrowed and alert, always keeping herself between it and Annabeth.

"Uh, not to rush you," Thalia spoke unsteadily, "but we've got company."

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**More drama, muwahaha. So who's this Myra chick? You'll find out next chapter! **

**Thanks for reading and review please!**

**-Akatsuki Child**


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